St. Petersburg council asks administration to rethink sale of Science Center after public outcry and utility study

St. Petersburg City Council on Sept. 25 unanimously asked the administration to reconsider plans for the St. Petersburg Science Center site and to continue negotiations with the St. Petersburg Group while studying alternative locations for wastewater equalization or stormwater storage needs.

The council’s action followed more than two hours of public comment from West Side residents, neighborhood leaders and educators urging the city to preserve and reopen the Science Center — a long‑running educational facility — and after city staff presented a third‑party feasibility report that ranked several nearby sites for potential water‑treatment equalization storage.

Why it matters: The Science Center property at 7701 20th Ave. N. sits immediately south of the city’s Northwest Water Reclamation Facility. City real‑estate staff and public‑works engineers said the parcel is strategically located for future utility projects, while community leaders said the site is the only fully funded, ready plan for a West Side STEM hub that would serve thousands of children and bring state and federal grant money to the neighborhood.

Public testimony: Dozens of residents and neighborhood leaders implored council to reverse an administrative decision to pause the site sale and to relocate a brush/yard‑waste site instead of selling to the St. Petersburg Group, which proposed a privately funded Science Center renovation. “Save the Science Center,” said Jamie Hoke, a West Side resident and longtime advocate. John Hoke, president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations, told council the center “is an integral asset to creating good and great humans in Saint Pete.” Former…