{"id":343737,"date":"2026-07-17T19:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T19:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/343737\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T19:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T19:05:08","slug":"great-explorations-eyes-south-st-pete-elementary-school-for-new-80000-square-foot-discovery-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/343737\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Explorations eyes south St. Pete elementary school for new 80,000-square-foot Discovery Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

The existing museum would remain while the elementary school campus would become the discovery center. <\/p>\n

Working with Wannemacher Jensen Architects,<\/a> exhibits would emphasize imaginative play and problem-solving for younger attendees. <\/p>\n

For older students, programming would lean toward career exploration with experiences in chemistry, space, architecture, robotics, and 3D printing.<\/p>\n

During this week\u2019s information session, both kids and adults presented a detailed list of additional ideas for the 80,000-square-foot campus, including exhibits and education focused on coding, drones, video production, and artificial intelligence (AI).<\/p>\n

They also noted several ways to utilize existing infrastructure, such as building a splash pad in the concrete courtyard and using the cafeteria\u2019s kitchen for food science classes.<\/p>\n

Great Explorations had previously acquired a collection of science-based exhibits from a Chicago children\u2019s science museum that closed during the Covid pandemic. Those exhibits are now in storage and would be part of the new discovery center.<\/p>\n

The new center<\/a> would focus on programs related to physical sciences, life sciences, applied sciences, and natural sciences.<\/p>\n

Howell said the museum will likely kick off a capital campaign next year with the goal of raising around $15 million to cover the renovations and associated costs.<\/p>\n

The expanded presence and footprint would mark a new chapter for the museum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The existing museum would remain while the elementary school campus would become the discovery center. Working with Wannemacher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-343737","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\/343737","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=343737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}