Imagination Station

Imagination Station (formerly the Center of Science and Industry (COSI)) is a non-profit, hands-on science museum located on the Maumee River in downtown Toledo, Ohio. The facility has over 300 exhibits for "children of all ages".

The museum opened in 1997 as COSI. After tax levies failed in 2006 and 2007, COSI closed its doors to the public on the last day of 2007 due to lack of funding. In 2008, voters approved an operating levy to reopen the facility as The Toledo Science Center. This interim name was replaced by "Imagination Station", which opened on 10 October 2009.

Prior to its use as a museum, the building was home to Portside Festival Marketplace, a festival marketplace-style shopping and restaurant complex that operated from 1984 until 1990.

History

Portside

In the 1950s through the 1970s, Toledo retailers began an exodus from the downtown business district toward the suburbs, or closed entirely. Among them, the grocery and department store Tiedtke's, once called "America's first supermarket," closed on Sept. 2, 1973. On May 7, 1975, a massive fire destroyed the store's former location at 408 Summit St., the riverfront land on which Portside would later be built. By 1984, each of Toledo's four main local department store retailers had left downtown or closed.

In the late 1970s, in an effort to promote urban renewal, Toledo mayor Douglas DeGood worked with leaders from Owens-Illinois and Toledo Trust to develop new headquarters for both companies on the Maumee riverfront.

Despite projections that Portside would serve as a catalyst for Downtown Toledo's rebirth, the project failed to generate forecasted visitors and revenues. Portside's collapse contributed to the downfall of a Toledo-based regional bank, Toledo Trust, which financed the project, and left several small business owners in ruin. The ''Buffalo News'' said Portside "may be the best example of what not to do with waterfront shopping centers."

COSI

A mayoral committee appointed to find the best use for the site heard repeated community requests for an educational family attraction. The city asked COSI Columbus about its experience and resources, and subsequently the city and the Columbus organization created COSI Toledo, an independent, not-for-profit organization with a board of trustees from northwest Ohio.

A fundraising campaign raised $9.5 million, surpassing the goal by $4.5 million. The state government gave another $10 million. The former Portside Festival Marketplace facility was transferred to COSI at a value of $16 million. On March 1, 1997, COSI opened its doors to the public. The facility attracted an average of 250,000 visitors per year over its first decade.

In 2005, COSI won a National Award for Museum and Library Service from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the nation’s highest honor for extraordinary public service by a museum or library. The award was presented by Laura Bush at a White House ceremony in January 2006.

On July 28, 2006, COSI Toledo and COSI Columbus legally split so each could focus on their own financial troubles. Later that year, Berrien Springs Public Schools awarded a ''2006 Teachers' Choice Awards'' to COSI for its distance learning program. After voters voted down a second levy in November 2007, COSI Toledo closed due to lack of funding on December 31, 2007.

On November 4, 2008, Lucas County, Ohio, voters approved an operating levy for the science center, enabling it to reopen in fall 2009.

Image:COSI Toledo located at 1 Discovery Way.JPG, COSI entrance in 2007 (now Imagination Station), with Fifth Third Center at One SeaGate in the distance.
Image:Rube Goldbergian music machine at COSI Toledo.JPG, A Rube Goldbergian–style machine in the main lobby that creates music via user-dropped billiard balls.
Image:Toledo Harbor Lighthouse Fresnel lens.JPG, The Toledo Harbor Lighthouse's original Fresnel lens on display.

Renovation

In 2019, the Imagination Station launched a $10 million upgrade, including an 8,200-square-foot theater with a 4K, 3D-capable screen and seats for people. KeyBank paid $2 million to name it KeyBank Discovery Theater. The new attraction requires the demolition of a pedestrian bridge. The center remains open during the construction, which is set to be complete in June 2020.

References

External links

Imagination Station Toledo

{{Toledo

2007 disestablishments in Ohio
Science museums in Ohio
Museums in Toledo, Ohio
Museums established in 1997