Science Center to stay

FORT WALTON BEACH, FL — The Emerald Coast Science Center will remain at Fort Walton Landing for at least another year.
   
The Fort Walton Beach City Council has agreed to extend the lease for one year while City Manager Robert Mearns and Jaime Lafollette, executive director of the Science Center, negotiate terms of a new lease.
   
The Science Center is one of several nonprofit groups that lease property from the city at less than market value. City officials this summer began reviewing its leased properties to determine whether they are undercharging tenants.
   
In addition to the Science Center, the City Council on Tuesday reviewed leases with Kiwanis Club Boy Scout Hut, the Highsteppers and the Emerald Coast Gem and Mineral Society.
   
The Science Center pays the city $1,000 per year to rent its building, which is valued at about $900,000. The city also maintains the structure.
   
“We’re an attraction for downtown. We’re a site for field trips. We’re a location for birthday parties. We educate children of all ages,” Lafollette told council members.
   
Lafollette said 80 percent of the Science Center’s visitors said the main reason they came to Fort Walton Landing was to visit the center. Also, 72 percent of the visitors said they were tourists.
   
The Science Center had its supporters at the meeting. They included Okaloosa County Superintendent of Schools Alexis Tibbetts; Ted Corcoran, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce; and Piper Gaffrey, owner of Fountain Square downtown.
   
“Now, more than ever, we need students to have an interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” Tibbetts said.
   
“The science center is a big draw,” Gaffrey said. “It helps our businesses, but it also helps our kids.”
   
Corcoran agreed. He said downtown businesses fully support keeping the center at the landing.
   
Lafollette told the City Council that the Science Center would maintain the building’s interior in exchange for keeping its lease. He also said the center was open to renegotiating the rent as long as it was not more than the center can afford.
   
The Science Center had almost 14,000 visitors this year, down only slightly from last year. The cost is $5 for adults and $3.50 for children.
   
In addition to providing science education and FCAT preparation programs to local teachers and students, the Science Center has begun offering activities for retirement centers and low-cost child care for low-income families.