A local St. Petersburg organization has offered to purchase the long-shuttered former Science Center of Pinellas County with plans to reactivate and reimagine the facility for STEAM-based learning.

The facility, which debuted in 1959, played a pivotal role in many Pinellas County student’s lives for the 55 years the facility was in operation. For decades, the center offered after-school and weekend classes for students from kindergarten through middle school in subjects such as biology, chemistry, electronics, and astronautics. At its peak, about 22,000 children visited the Science Center each school year.

The St. Petersburg Group, led by Irv Cohen and Joe Hamilton, has proposed to purchase the 3.89-acre Science Center property located at 7701 22nd Avenue North from the City of St. Petersburg for an appraised value minus $100,000.

“The Science Center will be a space where hands-on, discovery-based learning and STEM enrichment fuel inquisitive minds and enthusiasm for all things science,” states the proposal. “It will be an invaluable asset to the Pinellas County area and provide an interactive, classroom-supportive, family-friendly environment for generations to come.”

In response to the unsolicited proposal, the City of St. Petersburg issued a Notice of Intent to Dispose of City-owned Real Estate earlier this week. The notice invites alternative proposals from private developers, or anyone interested in undertaking the lease, purchase, or development of the site. Proposals must be submitted to the city by 10:00 am on Tuesday May 23rd, 2023.

The group’s revitalization plan for the Science Center calls for installing eight STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) modules, sponsored by local businesses, on the first floor of the building. Pathfinder Outdoor Education and Water Warrior Alliance have been identified as two of the eight local groups operating modules at the new Science Center.

With help from Pinellas County Schools and Pinellas Education Foundation, potential programming topics for the modules range from the environment, marine biology, and medicine to cutting-edge technology topics such as blockchain and virtual reality.

The second floor of the Science Center building will be rentable space for STEM-related organizations or non-profits.

Additionally, the outside space includes room for outdoor adventure courses, agricultural education, and alternative farming. There is also potential for outdoor event rentals.

The proposal estimates the total project cost at $10.6 million.

The St. Petersburg Foundation and partners have secured $5 million in federal and state appropriations as well as another $2.5 million submitted for this year. The proposal has commitments for ongoing support from State Representative Linda Chaney, State Senator Daryl Rouson, and U.S. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna. The remainder of the required funds would come from New Markets Tax Credits and donations.

The Science Center was a fixture in the community ever since its debut at 1039 Arlington Avenue in downtown St. Pete in 1959. Seven years after opening, the downtown Science Center was demolished to make way for a new street and a new facility was built in the Azalea neighborhood in west St. Pete, near Tyrone Mall, where it operated until its closure in 2014.

By the 2000s, the Science Center had expanded to include an expansive marine exhibit, an observatory, a planetarium, a theater, and more.

The marine exhibit featured a 600-gallon touch tank with starfish, horseshoe crabs, guitarfish, slipper lobsters, hermit crabs and sea urchins.

The observatory’s telescope was the only one available to the public in Pinellas County in a non-university setting.

The digital planetarium was also the only one available to the public in Pinellas County and could show the sky as it was on any specific date in history.

However, by 2014, the Science Center had started to fall into disrepair. With funds unavailable to renovate the once-state-of-the-art facility, the county's job placement agency, Career Source Pinellas, purchased the property. The facility continued to flounder and quickly closed.

In 2019, the City of St. Pete purchased the Science Center from CareerSource Pinellas $3.15 million.

However, the city was not interested in reviving the Science Center. Instead, the city planned to use a portion of the property to expand the capacity of the neighboring Northwest Water Reclamation Plant.

Some city leaders suggested tearing down the Science Center to build affordable housing, which was (and still is) desperately needed. But a groundswell of support for saving the Science Center, led by then City Council member Robert Blackmon, emerged.

Now, with partial funds secured and a commitment from The St. Petersburg Group to spearhead the revival, the Science Center could soon see new life in St. Petersburg.

“The time is ripe for a reactivated, reimagined Science Center for the 21st century,” states the proposal. “Through the collaborative network of program providers this initiative is pulling together, the Science Center will provide a unique opportunity for learners to experience the thrill of discovery and grasp the possibilities of a better future through knowledge.”