Wednesday, March 25, 2009 by Denise Walsh

GO-Science center seeking permanent site

By Kathryn Kennedy, The Daily Reflector

GO-Science center seeking permanent site

By Kathryn Kennedy
The Daily Reflector

Monday, March 23, 2009

GO-Science is shopping for sites in downtown Greenville, according to Executive Director Roger Conner.

Conner appeared Monday night before the city's redevelopment commission to ask it to return GO-Science to a position of prominence among city center revitalization projects and in the annual work plan.

Commission members voted unanimously in support of his proposal.

GO-Science is a nonprofit organization intended to bring informal science education programs to the public through hands-on exhibits. Formerly called the Eastern North Carolina Science Center Project, it was supported by the redevelopment commission in 2001 but became increasingly inactive.

Conner said the center has since developed successful programs — including a portable inflated planetarium that has traveled to 19 counties and a summer science camp — as well as conducted feasibility and funding research. The goal is to develop a permanent site that would grow in three phases.

The first phase would involve a few exhibits in a 3,000-6,000-square-foot space, Conner said. From there, growth would be to a mid-scale center and utilize the Challenger Learning Center simulator, which allows users to experience space travel. There are 51 of those simulators in the nation, Conner said. The one proposed for Greenville would be the only one in North Carolina.

The final phase would come approximately 10 years down the road and would incorporate a full-dome planetarium, labs and classrooms. Conner said center supporters want all three phases to be accomplished at a center-city location. He declined to state which properties were being considered.

“We're an attraction,” Conner said. “We're something that would encourage people to visit the city center.”

He said the center could bring visitors to the area that would spend money at local businesses in addition to the funds the science center itself would spend. GO-Science also would form partnerships with local schools and higher education institutions to help develop a better-prepared work force.

A handful of people spoke in favor of GO-Science during the public comment section. One of those was Denise Walsh, director of Uptown Greenville — a nonprofit encouraging development in that area of the city. She told the commission Monday that she formerly worked at an oceanographic museum.

“I know what kind of foot traffic that can bring to an area, to a district,” she said. “(Uptown) has been developed as an arts district. Arts and science marry nicely together. It would be a huge step for us as far as revitalizing … the heart of our city.”

Also at Monday's meeting, City Planner Carl Rees updated the commission on a number of ongoing revitalization projects in the city center:

Nathaniel Village, which will provide low-income housing, is in the first stages of site construction.

The city is coordinating repairs on the State Theater, also called White's Theater, with an adjoining property. The city also has applied for a Preserve America grant and is enlisting the Magnolia Arts Center to help run fundraising efforts.

Contracting bids will be accepted for the Reade & Cotanche Streetscape project in April, and the city is partnering with East Carolina University to create benches and trash receptacles as public art.

Utility redesign is ongoing at the West Fifth Street Gateway, and planning will finish this fall.

Design proposals have been accepted for a Five Points Plaza at the corner of Fifth and Evans streets, and staff will recommend one to the redevelopment commission in April and award the contract in May.

The Town Commons Area Study will hold a second input meeting April 14 at Sheppard Memorial Library.

The city is preparing to install wayfinding signs, which have been completed, around city hall in the coming weeks.

 

Contact Kathryn Kennedy at kkennedy@coxnc.com or (252) 329-9566.