The Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in 2008. (Ennis Davis, AICP)
After the closure of Portside, a mayoral committee was appointed to find the highest and best use for the site. In 1997, the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) opened in the building after the facility was transferred to COSI at a value of $16 million. For a while, the museum attracted an average of 250,000 visitors per year to downtown Toledo. However, due to a lack of funding, COSI closed its doors to the public in 2007. A year later, Lucas County voters approved an operating levy for the science center enabling the facility to reopen in the Fall of 2009 as The Imagination Station, a non-profit, hands-on science museum.
A Look At Imagination Station Today
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com