👤 Who: The City of Fort Walton Beach, Heritage Park & Cultural Center, former Councilwoman Chris Gibson, and community partners
🏗️ What: Grand reopening of the expanded and renovated Indian Temple Mound Museum
📅 When: 10 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026
📍 Where: 139 Miracle Strip Parkway SE, Fort Walton Beach
🎯 Why: To expand exhibit space, improve facilities, and preserve and present thousands of years of local Native American history
After years of construction, planning, and exhibit renovations, Fort Walton Beach’s Indian Temple Mound is ready to welcome the public back inside.
The Indian Temple Mound Museum will officially reopen at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and free admission for the day, according to the City of Fort Walton Beach’s Heritage Park & Cultural Center.
The reopening marks the completion of a 4,800-square-foot expansion project that adds classroom space, offices, exhibit storage, and a significantly larger museum store. That store quietly opened in November 2025, but staff and volunteers have spent the past several months overhauling the original museum building — updating exhibits, making structural improvements, and preparing new displays that document thousands of years of Native American settlement in the region.
The museum sits beside the ancient Fort Walton Temple Mound, one of the most significant archaeological landmarks in Northwest Florida. Together with surrounding historic buildings, the site anchors the Heritage Park & Cultural Center campus.
City officials credited former Fort Walton Beach Councilwoman Chris Gibson and her family for helping make the expansion possible through a private donation. Gibson was described as a longtime advocate for preserving and sharing the area’s deep cultural history.
Public funding for the building project came from the Fort Walton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, Okaloosa County’s Tourist Development Tax, and the county’s Infrastructure Surtax.
After the reopening day celebration, regular admission will resume at $5 for adults, $4.50 for seniors and military members, and $3 for children ages 4–17. Children 3 and under are admitted free. Admission includes access to all museums within the Heritage Park & Cultural Center campus, including the Camp Walton Schoolhouse Museum and other historic structures surrounding the mound.
The museum is located at 139 Miracle Strip Parkway SE and operates from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
City officials say the reopening represents more than a building project — it’s a renewed investment in telling the story of the region’s earliest inhabitants and ensuring that history remains accessible to future generations.
Pro Communi Bono
St. Francis De Sales, Ora Pro Nobis!
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