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Greenville’s new science center is slated to open this fall, but several special preview events this summer will provide a sneak peek.
The GO-Science Center on Dickinson Avenue has been years in the making and is being implemented in phases. The center not only will foster education, but also will be an economic boost for the city and eastern North Carolina, according to its executive director, Roger Conner.
The sign for the center recently was hung, adding another finishing touch to Phase I of the city’s first science center at 729 Dickinson Ave.
Conner said the center is looking to hire an educational director ahead of opening this fall.
Also coming up are fundraising for the next two phases to bring programs and features unique to the city.
Phase I, which will cost about $200,000, includes a hands-on learning area, flexible space that includes office and meeting areas, a kitchenette, an open floor plan and retail area.
“The Sprout” also will be installed to teach about renewable energy. The large vertical wind turbine and weather center will stand just outside the entrance to the GO-Science Center. Solar panels on The Sprout along with the wind turbine will collect energy to power an internal computer for the weather center and a touch screen to show how much energy is being used.
A camera at the top of The Sprout will enable people to view weather conditions at the science center.
Reserve funds will help the center begin operations while funding for the final two phases — about $3.7 million — is being raised.
The second phase includes renovating the facility, about 13,000 square feet, and installing the Challenger Learning Center — a multimillion-dollar space travel simulator that would be one of only about 40 in existence.
The only other regional Challenger Learning Centers are in Columbus, Ga.; Columbia, S.C.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Richmond, Va.
The Challenger program, among other exhibits and programs planned for the facility, would set GO-Science — and Greenville — apart and attract visitors from across the region, Conner said.
Erecting the Challenger Learning Center would require enough funding to get through at least Phase II.
Phase III would develop the parking lot in the rear of the facility with additional space for permanent, temporary or traveling exhibits — about 7,000 to 9,000 additional square feet.
Conner said GO-Science is partnering with the Pitt County Schools; local, state and federal government agencies; philanthropic groups and private donors to come up with the funding necessary to realize the center’s potential.
Public input session on the Tar River Park (space near the dog park) master plan Thursday at 6pm at City Hall. Various ideas have been proposed for this future park, including a shelter, disc golf, and/or sand volleyball. Share your input!
New Town Common pier will include fishing pier and kayak/canoe launch
Speaking of Kayaking, there is a new company dedicated to kayak/paddle board rentals in Greenville.
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Recreation on the Tar River in Greenville is challenging with limited entry and exit locations. And before last weekend, it was challenging to even rent a kayak or canoe to use on the river.
But Kelsey Curtis of Knee Deep Adventures is trying to change that with a kayak rental business open to the public for four- or eight-hour trips up and down the Tar.
Previously, the only other place in Greenville to rent kayaks or canoes was at East Carolina University. But those rentals were limited to students and faculty. The next closest location was in Washington, N.C.
Curtis, 27, said she has been kayaking since she was about 7 years old, when she fell in love with the sport. And Curtis has known there was a local need for her business for years.
“I grew up in Greenville,” she said. “I’ve been here my whole life. There’s not a lot to do here.”
Curtis said she sent a letter to the mayor when she was a child, asking for more recreation activities in the city.
“Now I’m just happy I can be part of the solution,” she said.
Curtis has a huge, bright- blue custom trailer built to haul 40 kayaks of various sizes and styles. Reservations for trips can be made online, and customers can meet her at Port Terminal on Port Terminal Road to pick up their kayaks. The kayaks can be used up and down the Tar during the allotted time before being brought back to the boat ramp where Curtis can help haul the boats back to the trailer.
Life jackets and paddles are provided and Curtis said she has a wealth of knowledge about the river to share.
A pickup/drop-off service is not available, but Curtis said it’s something she and her business partner are exploring.
“We just want to keep it really, really simple at first,” she said.
Curtis said she and her silent business partner have been planning the business for about a year, coming up with the business plan, model, website, gathering the kayaks and getting the trailer constructed.
Curtis said she was motivated by the city’s Tar River Legacy Plan — a study of the river and how to better utilize it. The study found that increased access and amenities along the river were the top priorities.
And now Knee Deep Adventures is the city’s first kayak and paddle board rental business open to the public, becoming one of the first private investments in the Tar River Legacy Plan.
“It’s beautiful out there, and we just want to help people get into the Tar,” Curtis said.
“So many people don’t realize what we have or that you can go out and spend time on the river. We wanted to change that,” she said.
Curtis said she was encouraged when the city said it would fund a reconstructed boat ramp that would be ADA and kayak accessible at the Town Common. The only official input and output locations for boats and kayaks in city limits are the Town Common boat ramp and Port Terminal.
To attempt to cater to every need, Curtis has single-person kayaks, tandem kayaks, standing paddle boards and tri kayaks.
“We’re trying to have a variety so any person or any group that comes down here can have access,” she said. “We can have groups, kids, dogs, whatever.”
And Curtis is on hand to teach those new to the river the basics and to provide navigation and safety tips.
“Kayaking is easy and low-impact on such flat water here in Greenville,” she said. “It’s very beginner friendly.”
Knee Deep Adventures also is exploring kayaks or kayak attachments that could help disabled or weaker people kayak with more ease.
“The river should be usable by everyone,” Curtis said. “We want to try to help make that possible.”
Knee Deep Kayaks is working with partners at ECU to come up with a more comprehensive paddling map, too, since Curtis said many of the available maps are not completely accurate.
Curtis and her partner analyzed local recreation costs — like bowling and laser tag — as well as the regional market prices for kayaking to determine the fees for their rentals.
“We saw that most things were about $10 per hour,” she said. “So we wanted to come in a little less than that.”
A four-hour kayak rental is $35, and an eight-hour trip is $50. In a tandem kayak, four hours is $55, and eight hours is $65.
^I hope they can survive until it catches on. I'm assuming this is a side business for them. Honestly, if you really enjoy kayaking, they only run a hundred or two to buy your own...but for the casual person wanting something different to do it's great to have. I'm confused about how to find them though.
The Boundary is really shaping up. The Winterville charter school is going up off of Firetower Rd as well, it's really pushed back so I guess there is going to be lots of area for businesses out there.
New small strip mall going up on Dickinson (between Watauga and Skinner) will have Save a Lot as anchor store with a few other small shops to be leased later.
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