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Jilted by Easton, could Da Vinci Science Center find a home in Lehigh Valley’s two other cities?

Da Vinci Science Center’s efforts to build a second location in Easton have fallen through, but the nonprofit already has reached out to officials in Allentown and Bethlehem as it looks for a new landing spot.Allentown’s waterfront or Bethlehem’s former steel lands were the initial front-runners when Da Vinci began looking for locations to expand in 2016. After a six-month search, Easton prevailed when it offered up to $30 million of financial assistance and a 3-acre site in its downtown, blowing the two other cities’ pitches out of the water.But now that Easton has pulled its support and property, Da Vinci has revisited the other candidates.“We have held some preliminary discussions regarding other sites for the project and are happy to confirm that there is substantial interest in the project,” said Brian Strohecker, Da Vinci’s director of business administration.Allentown Mayor Ray O’Connell and Alicia Karner, Bethlehem’s director of community and economic development, both confirmed Thursday that Da Vinci officials have been in touch.Karner said specific locations were discussed, but she declined further comment.Karner made clear Bethlehem is not willing to broker a deal to purchase any property, as Easton originally offered when it purchased the former Days Inn on South Third Street next to City Hall last year for $5.9 million.Bethlehem also would not offer any direct financial assistance, although Da Vinci may be able to take advantage of the City Revitalization and Improvement Zone, Karner said. The CRIZ offers developers tax incentives to build in parts of the city’s South Side.“We would love to have Da Vinci as part of our portfolio, but I think we understood that other communities wanted them too,” she said of the city’s unwillingness to provide direct financial incentives.Talks with Allentown have not yet occurred, O’Connell said. Zachary Jaindl, principal of Waterfront Development Partners, did not return phone calls seeking comment Thursday. The company is slated to build a $425 million mixed-use development on Lehigh River waterfront with 675,000 square feet of office space, 425,000 square feet of residential space and 140,000 square feet of retail.Da Vinci is not under immediate pressure to find a new home and start construction. State Sens. Pat Browne and Lisa Boscola said that $20 million offered by the state will be available for the next 10 years. If the project never materializes, the money will be made available to another project with a science, education, arts, technology or recreational use, Browne said.“I’m just trying to make sure the project stays in the Lehigh Valley,” Boscola said.Browne said he and officials with Da Vinci have talked about where the nonprofit could look next. These preliminary discussions lacked details, he said.“It’s unfortunate, but when you’re doing something like this, you have to be nimble,” he said.If the project doesn’t move forward in Easton, Boscola thinks the area surrounding Bethlehem’s SteelStacks would be a prime location.“I’m thinking about that whole corridor from the Sands [Casino Resort] down to the Banana Factory,” she said.A science center would complement Wind Creek’s proposal for a $90 million, 300-room hotel tower and a $100 million indoor water park proposed for the No. 2 Machine Shop, Boscola said.Alex Michaels, president and CEO of Discover Lehigh Valley, the tourism agency, agrees.“Having it in a location where there’s already a lot of people coming out for dinner and entertainment would be good,” he said. Wind Creek’s proposal would bring a lot of families to South Side Bethlehem, making it a “true entertainment complex” with museums and restaurants.But moving the project there would be complicated, as the sale between Sands Bethworks Gaming to PCI (Poarch Creek Indians) Gaming Authority is not yet finalized. The deal between the two casino groups requires state approval. A meeting on the deal is scheduled in Harrisburg later this month.Boscola believes other prime locations for Da Vinci could include Bethlehem’s former Boyd Theater, slated to be demolished for a $22 million apartment and retail project; or one of the industrial parks outside the Lehigh Valley’s three cities.On Thursday, Boscola said she had yet to hear from any developers who might be interested in the project, but she hopes there will be some competition to land the science center, even if that competition comes from the Lehigh Valley’s smaller municipalities.“I’m not giving up on Da Vinci and they’re not giving up either,” Boscola said.Da Vinci officials abruptly announced a break from Easton on Wednesday after the city withdrew its funding and the 3-acre site at the corner of Third Street and Larry Holmes Drive.Mayor Sal Panto Jr. offered Da Vinci another site in the city, but the location is not owned or controlled by the city, lacks parking and would require significant demolition of existing structures, Strohecker said.“Given the major changes proposed by the city, we believe it is in everyone’s best interest that the project identify another site elsewhere in the Lehigh Valley,” he said Thursday.Easton pulled its funding because of significant changes to the facility Da Vinci was looking to build. Strohecker said Da Vinci had explored shrinking the science center to an $80-million, 76,000-square-foot facility. Panto said that option scared off the city, which committed to a $130 million, 170,000-square-foot aquarium.“The goal post kept being moved. The changes in the size, the scope. Everyone knows what an aquarium is. No one knows what a biodome is,” Panto told council Wednesday night.
Source: Morningcall

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