The City of St. Petersburg, Florida, is revisiting the proposal regarding the Science Center. Community members are eager for the center to be operational again, seeing it as crucial for nurturing future scientists and boosting local economic growth.

During a recent meeting, a speaker illustrated a future where a student en route to Azalea Middle School might see either a Science Center or wastewater storage tanks, emphasizing the importance of the center’s presence.

The irony was evident and brought up a few times by engineers and city council members.

Claude Tankersley, the city’s Public Works Administrator, highlighted the challenge of balancing a passion for science with the need to provide community resilience.

It became a conversation of can the city do both, in securing the future for storm water and the future for the Science Center.

A previously arranged $1.6 million agreement to restore and enhance the center was retracted despite signed contracts with the city and the St. Petersburg Group, alongside significant statewide fundraising efforts.

State Senator Darryl Rouson, present at the meeting, stressed the importance of maintaining the nearly $7 million in state funds already secured for the project.

In September, a feasibility study identified nine potential sites for water tanks, with the Science Center and a nearby brush site being top candidates. However, several council members expressed concerns about the study’s findings.

“I see notes when they started this process that said please do not consider the brush site,” said Lisset Hanewicz, a council member.

“My issue is not with the study, it is with what we did with the study,” said council member Mike Harting. “Of the four, five, six, seven sites we looked at for possible expansion, all of them were possible.”

Engineers said the study was not biased or steered toward a specific site. Jenna Byrne’s organization Water Warrior Alliance was named the Environmental Lead of Education for the Science Center. She said they’ve been ready to start construction for a long time.

“With all the steps we’ve taken, it seemed very confusing that this was coming up now after there was already multiple legal documents moving this forward,” Byrne said.

Stormwater resilience is part of the plan for the water tanks. The impact of the storms from 2024 heightened concerns and city leaders said they saw a need for the water tank facilities in the future.

The council unanimously passed a motion to reconsider plans for the site and move forward with the agreement made with the group aiming to get the Science Center back up and running.

“Science is under attack right now,” said council member Gina Driscoll. “It’s up to people like us to make sure children have access to science. Down the road, the children who go to the Science Center will solve these problems for us.”

The council members asked for an update during the October 2 meeting, where hopefully they will learn of new locations for the water tanks.