Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Science fair finds new home

After a long and tedious search for a new location, the fair will move from Pinellas ParkSide mall to Seminole Middle School.

By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published January 16, 2005

After a dozen years at Pinellas ParkSide mall, the Pinellas Regional Science and Engineering Fair has found a new home at Seminole Middle School.

The change in venue came a month shy of the fair, which will take place on Feb. 5.

"Finding a place was an absolute hair puller," said Robert Orlopp, the district's K-12 science supervisor. "It's a pretty massive footprint."

The district learned a year ago it would have to find a new location for the annual event, which requires space for 150 8-foot tables, because the 1970s-era mall was being leveled to make way for an open-air shopping center.

"I tried recreation areas in most of the cities," Orlopp said. "I tried the Science Center, which would have had us, but it was too small. I went and looked at all the schedules for basketball and wrestling in the various school gyms."

The University of South Florida St. Petersburg was willing to host the fair, but parking was limited. St. Petersburg College's gym was already booked. Seminole Mall was too small.

Complicating matters, Orlopp said, was a time element. Entries for the state science fair, which are culled from regional science fair winners, must be forwarded by mid February.

Administrators had begun working on an alternate plan in case a new location could not be found for the 300-plus exhibits. One idea was to display the high school projects at Lakewood High School and then hold a separate fair for the middle school projects.

The only drawback to the new venue is that the students' work will not be on display to the public, Orlopp said. In past years, hundreds of mall patrons viewed the projects over a two-day period.

"I would like the kids to have more exposure to the public, but I'm not sure how to do that," Orlopp said. "Ideally, we need a partnership. We need folks to work together to make this a Pinellas County thing."

[Last modified January 16, 2005, 00:33:22]