{"id":262274,"date":"2026-05-07T17:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T17:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/262274\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T17:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T17:32:08","slug":"usfsp-marine-science-laboratory-totaled-after-two-alarm-fire-the-crows-nest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/262274\/","title":{"rendered":"USFSP Marine Science Laboratory totaled after two-alarm fire\u00a0 \u2013 The Crow’s Nest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo by Matthew McGovern | The Crow\u2019s Nest<\/p>\n

By Jasmin Parrado and Alisha Durosier<\/p>\n

The University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus\u2019s Marine Science Laboratory (MSL) is \u201clikely a total loss,\u201d officials say, after a fire erupted on May 2, at approximately 5 p.m.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Emergency personnel confirmed that no one was in the building at the time and there were no reported injuries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

St. Petersburg Fire District Chief Michael Lewis told reporters on Saturday night that the fire destroyed the building\u2019s entire roof and that the next steps include hazmat teams assessing the area to ensure there are no\u00a0additional\u00a0hazards.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire, but an afternoon thunderstorm prompted lightning in the area around the time it started. The university awaits an official determination from the State Fire Marshal, which has taken over the\u00a0investigation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

USF President Moez\u00a0Limayem\u00a0said in a university-wide email on May 3 that the\u00a0university\u00a0is still assessing the damage and recovery teams are working to \u201cprioritize key research material and equipment for salvage assessment\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The massive fire produced massive plumes of smoke that could be spotted miles away. The blaze also prompted a two-alarm response, with over 60 units and 200 firefighters across the Tampa Bay area dispatched to the scene.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Along with\u00a0Limayem, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and Florida Senator Rick Scott took to the internet to express their sympathies and commend the Tampa Bay emergency personnel who responded to the scene.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve\u00a0spoken to USF President Moez\u00a0Limayem\u00a0and USFSP Regional Chancellor Thomas Smith. The City of St. Petersburg stands with our USF family,\u201d Welch wrote on X on May 3. \u201cWe will work with our community to rebuild better than before.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is a devastating loss for USF St. Petersburg, as the MSL is one of the oldest buildings on campus, spanning more than 80 years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the 1940s, the building served primarily as a training station and dormitory for the U.S.\u00a0Marine Merchants as World War II ensued. About two decades later, the installation of new laboratories at the MSL kick-started research efforts for various disciplines, turning it from a maritime resource to a core facility on campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joan \u201cSudsy\u201d\u00a0Tschiderer, founder of\u00a0The Crow\u2019s Nest,\u00a0said it was \u201csoul-crushing and devastating\u201d to see the marine science community\u2019s hard work potentially ruined, though\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0relieved no one was injured.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s certainly encouraging that the president of the university is standing behind resurrecting everything that was there before and making it even better, but Mother Nature will do what Mother Nature wants to do,\u201d\u00a0Tschiderer\u00a0told\u00a0The Crow\u2019s Nest.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tschiderer\u00a0attended USF St. Petersburg in 1969, and she helped form the campus\u2019s student government,\u00a0established\u00a0its student publication and led campus recreation for decades after.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The MSL building was where\u00a0Tschiderer\u00a0first attended classes. But with an auditorium, art lab, bookstore and a \u201crickety old\u201d freight elevator, it was much more than that, she recalled.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was homely, but it was our home,\u201d\u00a0Tschiderer\u00a0said. \u201cOur library was in there \u2014 a small library \u2014 and of course, Eckerd College had been here before us for a couple of years. So, I have a tremendous\u00a0amount\u00a0of memories connected to the building.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Discourse around the MSL building\u2019s repairs came into question in 2022 when Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a $75 million funding proposal for the Environmental and Oceanographic Sciences (EOS) research and testing facility. A year later, he\u00a0accepted<\/a>\u00a0funding\u00a0for less than half the amount.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to the facility\u2019s construction, parts of the MSL would be repurposed, though a larger funding outlook for its overall maintenance was\u00a0deferred<\/a>\u00a0to make way for the new building, according to\u00a0The St. Pete Catalyst.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tschiderer\u00a0has\u00a0remained\u00a0in the city ever since her first semester at USF St. Petersburg. Though a substantial amount of time has\u00a0passed,\u00a0she believes age was trivial in the discourse around the MSL\u2019s structural integrity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0shouldn\u2019t\u00a0say it\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0make me laugh, but I chuckle a little when people say, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s an old building,\u2019\u201d\u00a0Tschiderer\u00a0told\u00a0The Crow\u2019s Nest. \u201cWell,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a086 years old. Look around the world; there are buildings that are hundreds of years old and still standing and functional.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tschiderer\u00a0said she remembered seeing emblems of the building\u2019s\u00a0initial\u00a0status as a \u201ccivil defense shelter,\u201d and the MSL\u2019s concrete walls and versatility as a bomb shelter during World War II spoke to its strength.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since the growth of its high-tech inventory and space, the MSL has been touted as a state and local hub for marine science and oceanographic studies, with lifetimes worth of research, including time-dependent and global samples that are\u00a0largely irreproducible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tschiderer\u00a0is saddened on behalf of the marine science community, which she saw thrive over the years and the loss of essential research it cultivated.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI know so many people who work and study and just socialize and engage with each other on so many levels,\u201d\u00a0Tschiderer\u00a0said. \u201cIt was a very powerful arrow in my heart that many of them will be suffering.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tschiderer\u00a0said she hopes to see\u00a0Limayem\u00a0build \u201cbigger and better\u201d to honor the ongoing efforts of researchers, whose studies ranged from harmful algae blooms to red tide and the impact of waves on navigation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all over the place in marine science,\u201d\u00a0Tschiderer\u00a0said. \u201cI salute my colleagues, and I am in utter admiration of all that they\u00a0do\u00a0and I know that they are\u00a0very strong\u00a0and resilient scholars. And while this is a major setback,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not an insurmountable setback \u2014 they will find a way to move forward.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t Post Views: 33 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"More<\/a>
Written by: Jasmin Parrado<\/a> on May 7, 2026.
Last revised by: Alisha Durosier<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by Matthew McGovern | The Crow\u2019s Nest By Jasmin Parrado and Alisha Durosier The University of South…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-262274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}