Canada South Science City has 60 days to move out

Canada South Science City will close its doors Friday and has 60 days to move out of its home in the former DeSantisschool on Marion Avenue.

The science centre had applied to the city for an extension on the lease while it conducted a feasibility study on what to do; buy the building or move.

At council Tuesday night, a request for further funding and a request for another lease extension were not granted.

"I think it's a terrible shame and a regressive step, it's misguided," Canada South Science City president Bill Baylis said. "This seems like such a shame, considering the city has this new 20-year plan it's developing. The three main focal points, as I recall, were jobs, image and growth. We thought we'd be central to all three of those."

The educational attraction opened in time for March Break in2004 in the former DeSantisschool building, which the city owns.

Under the previous council, there was some talk of the City of Windsor providing $500,000 to help make repairs, but that never was approved.

The building's roof leaks and the floor needs work. Baylis said the building could use as much as $2 million in repairs. He said the centre could have applied for government grants if it owned the building rather than leasing month to month.

Baylis believes the City of Windsor was worried about liability issues due to the needed repairs. They weren't good for business either.

"It's sort of embarrassing to take people through when you have buckets gathering water. If you have a leaky building, you don't want a lot of public in there," he said.

Baylis said the centre was paying all its bills and staying on budget.

"If we owned the building, we could apply for grants. That was thrown out the window. It was simpler just to get rid of us," Baylis said. "We're determined to persevere.

"Ideally, we'd like to stay in Windsor, but there are a number of places outside of Windsor we're considering."

Baylis said volunteers are in the midst of pulling displays down and packing.

"We're still looking for a place to put everything. We were really hoping not to have to move twice," he said. "There's still a couple possibilities for places we might move to. But it doesn't look good."