{"id":72947,"date":"2025-12-05T21:16:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T21:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/72947\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T21:16:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T21:16:07","slug":"a-new-experiment-st-pete-sells-science-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/72947\/","title":{"rendered":"A new experiment: St. Pete sells Science Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of St. Petersburg stakeholders has long envisioned breathing new life into the Science Center<\/a>. Their dream is rapidly becoming a reality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

City council members unanimously approved selling the once-beloved educational institution to a local group Thursday. St. Pete for STEAM will purchase the neglected building and 3.9 acres of land for $1.6 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The St. Petersburg Group (SPG) and its project partners, collectively known as St. Pete for STEAM, will break ground on an artificial intelligence-focused<\/a> learning facility in January. Co-founder Joe Hamilton credited \u201calignment\u201d for the estimated $25 million redevelopment coming to fruition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just really felt that the city council, the administration and all the stakeholders around the Science Center were happy,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cIt\u2019s rare when pretty much everybody is aligned behind something, and that was probably the most rewarding feeling I had at the vote.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thousands, if not millions, of Pinellas County students once visited<\/a> the Science Center, which opened at 7701 22nd Ave. N. in 1966, for field trips, after-school programs and summer camps. Families would often spend the day marveling at its exhibitions, planetarium and the Walk of States mosaic trail.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Science Center opened to national fanfare in 1966 at 7701 22nd Ave. N. File photo.<\/p>\n

The cash-strapped former jewel of West St. Petersburg closed in 2014. City officials acquired the property and its Space Shuttle-adorned building five years later, given its proximity to a sewage treatment facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Councilmember Gina Driscoll noted that a former colleague, developer Robert Blackmon, was the first to advocate for the Science Center\u2019s rebirth. \u201cHe worked very hard to get the right people in place and get some funding going,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a lot for a council member to come up with an idea and do this,\u201d Driscoll added. \u201cAnd sometimes it outlasts your time on the city council. It gives me hope that some of the things I\u2019m working on now will be finished, even after I\u2019m gone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

SPG submitted a proposal to purchase the property for $1.25 million in January 2023. Mayor Ken Welch\u2019s administration agreed to a $1.6 million sale seven months later.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Recent debate over whether to keep the property and, perhaps one day, use it to enhance the nearby Northwest Water Reclamation Facility\u2019s capacity nearly derailed the long-planned project. Council members unanimously asked<\/a> Welch to proceed with the sale in late September, and the mayor acquiesced<\/a> in the following days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe (Hamilton), your persistence has paid off, and your vision has been accepted and celebrated,\u201d Driscoll said. \u201cAnd now we\u2019re going to see it happen. Thanks for all you\u2019ve done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Councilmember Corey Givens Jr., like many residents, said he grew up at the Science Center. He expressed excitement to \u201crevive an iconic institution.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad that we were able to come to a rational decision on this,\u201d Givens added. \u201cSo, job well done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With pledged financial commitments, St. Pete for STEAM has raised roughly $15 million. The group plans to renovate the existing rotunda, restore the historic mosaic trail<\/a> and build a new, modern facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A reimagined Science Center will bring engaging educational experiences<\/a> for students, adults, agencies and nonprofits, along with innovation and entrepreneurialism, together under one roof. Hamilton said a focus on flexibility will allow various stakeholders to help shape the facility\u2019s programming.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve designed it based on our conversations with the community,\u201d he continued. \u201cI think we\u2019re going to pack every square foot of it with good things that serve a lot of people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hamilton also noted that SPG\u2019s charitable arm, the St. Petersburg Foundation, operates the county-owned Lealman Exchange community center. He hopes to replicate those \u201creally impactful public-private partnerships that I hope to see more of in the community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

From left: Rep. Berny Jaques; Dan Joyal, co-executive director of Pathfinder Outdoor Education; Joe Hamilton, co-founder of the St. Petersburg Group; City Council Chair Copley Gerdes; Sen Darryl Rouson; and Jenna Byrne, founder of the Water Warrior Alliance, celebrate state Science Center funding. Photo by Amy Cianci.<\/p>\n

Blackmon said dreams of reviving the Science Center for a new generation began six years ago. He told the Catalyst that he has met dozens, if not hundreds, of project supporters who realize that \u201cfuture leaders start with STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)\u201d education.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new Science Center will be a truly world-class facility right in our backyard, where we can nurture homegrown academic talent,\u201d Blackmon said. \u201cI have immense gratitude for the many partners who have helped achieve this milestone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those partners include Rep. Linda Chaney, Rep. Berny Jacques and former Congressman Charlie Crist, who \u201cfought hard to bring back funding, year after year.\u201d Blackmon said Sen. Darryl Rouson<\/a> deserves a \u201cspecial mention.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was my day one partner, my first phone call and the only reason we are where we are today,\u201d Blackmon said of Rouson. \u201cMake no mistake, without his leadership, this facility would not have a future.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that Rouson, a \u201ctireless champion for those in need,\u201d can now include \u201cscience advocate\u201d to his long list of local success stories. Hamilton hopes to complete construction on the Science Center in 2027.<\/p>\n

Joe Hamilton is publisher of the St. Pete Catalyst.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A group of St. Petersburg stakeholders has long envisioned breathing new life into the Science Center. Their dream…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-72947","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\/72947","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=72947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}