Da Vinci Science Center project still on track
Board approves slight change to museum’s financing
A look at the worksite for the future Da Vinci Science Center in downtown Allentown reveals a foundation with concrete and steel gradually rising from the pit along the 800 block of Hamilton Street.
On Wednesday evening, the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority received a progress report from Da Vinci officials while approving a slight change to the science museum’s financing.
CEO Lin Erickson said work on the site picked up after PPL moved some major lines in the spring. She added that the project is still on track for a 2024 opening. “So at least a good 18 months,” she said.
Ground was broken on the project April 22.
“We started more site work in earnest; the city allowed us to do that before we officially got a building permit,” Erickson said. “We got the building permit at the end of July, early August, and then more of the deep excavation. Then starting to work on that foundation work occurred.
“I think we’ll start to see more steel really out of the ground as we get into winter, December, January timeframe and it’s full steam ahead.”
The 67,000-square-foot center will have three times the amount of exhibit space as its location on Hamilton Boulevard, which opened in 2005.
The final two to three months will consist of setting up exhibits, including the river otters, before a formal opening, Erickson
said.
Da Vinci gave the update as ANIZDA’s board voted on switching $20 million worth of funding.
Initially, ANIZDA agreed to issue nearly $20 million in bonds through Truist Financial for the project: $5.8 million secured by the NIZ revenue generated by the new science center and $13.8 million backed by Pennsylvania Gaming Economic Development and Tourism Fund payments Da Vinci is receiving.
Wednesday, the board voted to switch the financing to a $20 million tax exempt loan through Fulton Bank.
Essentially, Da Vinci and ANIZDA were able to get a better deal through the loan, Da Vinci officials told the authority.
ANIZDA Executive Director Steve Bamford said the authority will still be the borrower and the developer will be the guarantor. ANIZDA’s liability is limited to its annually allocated tax revenue,
he said.
“It’s still financing through the authority, rather than being a bond issue, it’s through bank loans,” Bamford said.
The $65 million center was made possible through a combination of federal, state and local programs as well as privatedonationsandspon- sorships.
The center received $11 million through Pennsylvania’s redevelopment assistance capital program and $3 million in community project funding from the federal government, secured by U.S. Rep. Susan Wild. Private sponsorships with companies such as PPL Corp. and Lehigh Valley Health Network also helped fund the center.
Da Vinci leaders have said the new downtown center willattract400,000annual visitors, create 487 full-time jobs and bring in $33 million in economic output.
Da Vinci officials announced their intent to build a second location in 2016 after attendance increased 70% from 200915 at its existing Hamilton Boulevard location. Leaders first planned a nearly 100,000-square-foot location in downtown Easton, but those plans fell through in 2019 when the city pulled funding for the site. Later that year, Da Vinci officials announced the downtown Allentown site.