Imagination Station
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox museum
|name = Imagination Station
|former_name = Center of Science and Industry (COSI), Toledo Science Center
|image = File:Imagination Station Front Entrance, July 2021.jpg
|caption = Museum's main entrance with renovated exterior
|map_type =
|latitude =
|longitude =
|established = {{Start date|2009|10|10}}
|location = Toledo, Ohio, United States
|coordinates = {{coord|41.651904|-83.531468|type:landmark_region:US-OH|display=inline,title|format=dms}}
|type = Science museum
|visitors =
|director =
|curator =
|publictransit=
|website = {{URL|http://imaginationstationtoledo.org/|imaginationstationtoledo.org}}
|dissolved =
}}
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".{{cite web
| url = http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?&Dato=20060521&Kategori=SRDISCOVER06&Lopenr=60510030&Ref=AR
| title = Hot spots: New attractions take center stage at popular locales
| access-date=July 31, 2016
| author = Erika Ray
| year = 2006
| publisher = The Blade
| quote = COSI has more than 300 exhibits for children of all ages
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120616045456/http://www.toledoblade.com/frontpage/2006/05/21/Hot-spots-New-attractions-take-center-stage-at-popular-locales.html
| archive-date = June 16, 2012
}}
The museum opened in 1997 as COSI. After tax levies failed in 2006{{cite web
| url = http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061109/NEWS16/611090362
| title = COSI seeks interim financial solution
| access-date = July 31, 2016
| author = Jenni Laidman
| date = November 9, 2006
| work = The Blade
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120616045510/http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2006/11/09/COSI-seeks-interim-financial-solution.html
| archive-date = June 16, 2012
}} and 2007, COSI closed its doors to the public on the last day of 2007 due to lack of funding.{{cite web |url=http://imaginationstationtoledo.org/ |title=Imagination Station |work=Imaginationstationtoledo.org |access-date=July 31, 2016}} 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.{{cite news|publisher=Toledo Blade|title=1,100 flock to opening-day festivities at Toledo science center|author=Erica Blake|date=October 11, 2009|url=http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091011/NEWS16/910110334 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928194611/http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2009/10/11/1-100-flock-to-opening-day-festivities-at-Toledo-science-center.html |archive-date=September 28, 2012 |access-date=July 31, 2016}}
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
{{Infobox building
| name = Portside Festival Marketplace
| image =
| image_size =
| location = Toledo, Ohio
| coordinates =
| status = Closed; redeveloped as Imagination Station
| opened_date = 1984
| architect = Mort Hoppenfeld{{cite journal |last1=Young |first1=Michael John |title=Carolina Planning Vol. 18.1: On the Waterfront |journal=CDR.lib.unc.edu |date=1992 |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=12–16 |doi=10.17615/22rs-w743 |url=https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/downloads/wp988m550?locale=en |access-date=31 January 2022}}
| landlord = City of Toledo
| owner = Toledo Economic Planning Council Development Corp.
| floor_count = 2
| building_type = Festival marketplace
| architecture_firm = The Collaborative
| logo =
| closing_date = 1990
| developer = James Rouse and Enterprise Development Co.
}}
===Portside===
In the 1950s through the 1970s, Toledo retailers began an exodus from the downtown business district toward the suburbs, or closed entirely.{{cite book|last1=Yonke|first1=David|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c5VoCgAAQBAJ&dq=lion+store+%22bowling+green%22+%22fremont%22&pg=PA45|title=Lost Toledo|date=2015|publisher=The History Press|isbn=9781626195707|location=Charleston|pages=41–47|access-date=3 February 2022}} Among them, the grocery and department store Tiedtke's, once called "America's first supermarket," closed on Sept. 2, 1973.{{cite web|date=August 31, 1972|title=Long Faces Of Employees, Customers Reflect News of Tiedtke's Closing|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aw5PAAAAIBAJ&pg=5322%2C5482665|access-date=March 25, 2011|work=Toledo Blade}} 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.{{cite web|date=May 8, 1975|title=Downtown Blaze Destroys Tiedtke's Building|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19750508&printsec=frontpage|access-date=March 25, 2011|newspaper=Toledo Blade}} By 1984, each of Toledo's four main local department store retailers had left downtown or closed.{{cite news|last1=Kaplan|first1=Phillip|date=28 January 2019|title=Out with the old, in with the nothing|work=The Blade|url=https://www.toledoblade.com/a-e/monday-memories/2019/01/28/monday-memories-lasalles-macys-last-department-store-in-downtown-toledo/stories/20190125127|access-date=3 February 2022}}
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.{{cite news|last1=Zaborney|first1=Mark|date=5 December 2019|title=Doug DeGood (1947-2019): Toledo Mayor oversaw Portside, One SeaGate projects|work=The Blade|url=https://www.toledoblade.com/news/deaths/2019/12/05/toledo-blade-obituaries-doug-degood-mayor-oversaw-portside-one-seagate/stories/20191204134|access-date=5 February 2022}}
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.{{cite news |last1=Murray |first1=Dave |title=Portside troubled from start, financial documents indicate |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DURPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_gIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4262%2C3025439 |access-date=31 January 2022 |work=The Blade |date=21 May 1989}} The Buffalo News said Portside "may be the best example of what not to do with waterfront shopping centers."{{Cite news|last=Fairbanks|first=Phil|title=Toledo's Struggling Portside is Warning for Project Here|work=Buffalo News|url=https://buffalonews.com/news/toledos-struggling-portside-is-warning-for-project-here-waterfront-complex-offers-lesson-for-pavilion/article_39ff1ac3-b4ca-5f8b-8eeb-5186c0d7cf20.html|access-date=31 Jan 2022|date=7 May 1989}}
=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.{{cite web
| url = http://www.culture.ohio.gov/project.asp?proj=cosit
| title = COSI Toledo
| access-date = July 31, 2016
| work = Cultural Facilities Projects
| publisher = Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070406114456/http://culture.ohio.gov/project.asp?proj=cosit |archive-date = April 6, 2007}} 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.{{Citation
| date = 1997-03-01
| title = Big Wheel at COSI Toledo
| place = Toledo, Ohio
| publisher = The Blade
| volume = 59
}} The facility attracted an average of 250,000 visitors per year over its first decade.{{cite web
| url = http://cositoledo.org/History/FAQ.htm
| title = FAQ for COSI Toledo
| access-date=July 31, 2016
| publisher = COSI Toledo
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070624124218/http://cositoledo.org/History/FAQ.htm |archive-date = June 24, 2007}}
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.{{cite press release
| title = Three Museums and Three Libraries to Receive Nation's Highest Honor for Extraordinary Community Service
| publisher = Institute of Museum and Library Services
| date = November 30, 2005
| url = http://www.imls.gov/news/2005/113005.shtm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060925234114/http://www.imls.gov/news/2005/113005.shtm
| archive-date=September 25, 2006
| access-date=July 31, 2016
}} The award was presented by Laura Bush at a White House ceremony in January 2006.{{cite web |url=http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2006/01/31/Laura-Bush-lauds-COSI-Toledo.html |title=Laura Bush lauds COSI Toledo|newspaper=Toledoblade.com |date=January 31, 2006 |access-date=July 31, 2016}}
On July 28, 2006, COSI Toledo and COSI Columbus legally split so each could focus on their own financial troubles.{{cite news| url=http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/11/06/story2.html | first=Adrian | last=Burns | title=COSI Columbus splitting with Toledo counterpart | date=2006-11-06 |work=bizjournals.com |access-date=July 31, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805021410/http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/11/06/story2.html |archive-date=August 5, 2011}} Later that year, Berrien Springs Public Schools awarded a 2006 Teachers' Choice Awards to COSI for its distance learning program.{{cite web
| url = http://www.remc11.k12.mi.us/dl/teacherschoice/
| title = Teachers' Choice Awards: Best Content Providers
| access-date=July 31, 2016
| author = Janine Lim
| publisher = Berrien Springs Public Schools
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110403052855/http://www.berrienresa.org/technology/vc/contentproviders/teachersfavorite/
| archive-date=April 3, 2011
}} 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.{{cite web |last1=Mester |first1=Alexandra |title=Imagination Station to receive $10 million upgrade |url=https://www.toledoblade.com/local/education/2018/12/12/imagination-station-to-receive-10-million-upgrade/stories/20181212031 |website=Toledo Blade |publisher=Block Communications |access-date=7 October 2019 |language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Hormann |first1=Bill |title=Imagination Station to undergo $11M in renovations |url=https://www.13abc.com/content/news/Imagination-Station-to-undergo-11M-in-renovations-509032861.html |website=13abc.com |publisher=WTVG |access-date=7 October 2019 |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://imaginationstationtoledo.org/ Imagination Station Toledo]
{{Toledo}}
Category:2007 disestablishments in Ohio
Category:Science museums in Ohio