Janelle Irwin Taylor
The Science Center of Pinellas County has landed $800,000 in the proposed state budget, funding that will help reactivate the facility after it closed in 2014.
Sen. Darryl Rouson, a St. Petersburg Democrat, and Rep. Berny Jacques, a Pinellas County Republican, had sought $2.5 million for the project (SF 2127, HF 2422), which aims to preserve the existing historic structure while also constructing a new building. The project would also include landscaping the historic garden on-site and repaving the parking lot. Of the total requested funding, $500,000 would have gone toward operating costs.
While the $800,000 included is lower than requested, it will further the project’s goals and follow up on $2.5 million secured in the current year budget.
The city of St. Pete currently owns the facility but is in the process of selling it to St. Pete for STEAM, a group working to reactivate the Center.
Located at 7701 22nd Ave. North in St. Pete, the facility served as a hub for science, technology, engineering and mathematics education from the time it opened in 1959 until its closure in 2014. It was a frequent location for school field trips, complete with hands-on activities such as a touch tank, laser light shows and a planetarium.
The St. Petersburg Foundation, a group working to revitalize the Science Center, has already secured $9 million for what it expects to be a $25 million project. That includes funding secured last year, also spearheaded by Rouson and Jacques.
“We’re investing in our youth, in such an important academic subject: Science,” Jacques said last year after securing $2.5 million for the project. “Not just science in general, but technology, engineering, mathematics. These are the jobs of today and tomorrow.”
Plans for a revitalized Center include operations as “both learning center and emergent technologies incubator,” according to the House appropriations request.
“Programming, classes and camps will teach emergent technologies to students while office and training spaces will provide the infrastructure for regional impact in emergent technologies,” the request reads.
“I am incredibly thankful to our Legislature for supporting the re-establishment of the Science Center. Science-based education is more important now than ever. We must follow a data driven path to our community’s future while creating good paying jobs along the way,” added Robert Blackmon, a former St. Pete City Council member who has championed revitalization.
“My sincerest gratitude towards everyone who has supported the project and recognizes the value of education for our children’s future. Thank you for Representative Jacques for his work this Session, and to Senator Rouson, who has worked alongside me since day one to make this dream a reality.”
