While it is no longer used for rocket science as it was originally intended, the Frisco Discovery Center building has been transformed into a local hub for science, technology, math and the arts and is poised to get an additional attraction.
The Frisco Community Development Corp., which owns the building, is working on an agreement that would establish the first permanent video game museum in the U.S.—the Videogame History Museum. The museum would include interactive exhibits explaining the history and evolution of the gaming industry as well as the technology and artistry behind it, said Sean Kelly, one of the museum's three founders. The museum, which is currently only a traveling museum, is looking for a permanent home.
About 110,000 square feet of the building is dedicated to a private business, and the Sci-Tech Discovery Center and the Frisco Association of the Arts–operated Black Box Theatre and Art Gallery have made the most of the remaining 50,000 square feet.
The CDC and city staff have spent several months figuring out how best to utilize the recently renovated back-of-house space—15,000 square feet on the east side of the building. Since 2011 the nonprofit Frisco Arts organization has leased the space as a way to raise funds.
Although there has been no official decision, the CDC at its Aug. 21 meeting agreed to move forward with a plan that would give the VHM about 10,000 square feet of the space and the Frisco Arts about 5,000 square feet in addition to the 3,000 square feet it already uses for theater rooms and storage.
The exact allocation of the space is still in discussion. The CDC board is expected to make a decision at its September meeting, which would lay the groundwork for the VHM to open in spring 2015 with time to prepare for summer camps.
The agreement would not affect the Black Box Theatre or Frisco Art Gallery space—both will continue to operate under the management of Frisco Arts—or the Sci-Tech Discovery Center, which is under its own management.
The VHM's original plan called for utilizing the entire 15,000 square feet of space. The revised plan scales back the VHM to moveable exhibits at a total cost of $1.6 million—$800,000 of which the CDC would fund.
"We will start with whatever is available, and with the help of Frisco we will be able to put something fantastic together, although it would be temporary," said Una McKeen, VHM development director.
Kelly said when the scaled-back plan was presented, it was a "little shocking" compared with the VHM's original proposal.
"We actually really love the idea," Kelly said. "Ten thousand square feet is not going to be the worldwide destination that we promised, but it will certainly draw people from all over Texas, and as it grows into a larger space we will draw people from all over the world."
Sharon Roland, executive director for Frisco Arts, said the organization has worked through the proposed plan with city staff.
"We believe we can be successful with that space and be very efficient with it, and we know that the city is working on a compromise that everybody can be happy with and we can be happy with that compromise," she said.
Frisco Arts currently generates about 40 percent of its revenue from leasing the back-of-house space. Roland said the compromise would still allow Frisco Arts to do that, but some events would not be possible because of the limited space.
Discovery Center history
The Discovery Center building was originally constructed in 1997 by Beal Aerospace Technologies Inc.—a company that built rocket engines to launch commercial satellites into space. The building served as an engineering and assembly facility.
By October 2000 the company, owned by Andrew Beal, was out of business. News reports from the time said Beal shut down the business because he claimed his company could not compete with other manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing that were receiving government funding from the Air Force and NASA.
CDC President Gary Carley said the CDC purchased the building from Beal Aerospace for about $9 million.
"Because of its location and with the city being in control of a lot of the surrounding property, [city leadership] thought it was a great idea to have control [of the Discovery Center building]," Carley said.
In turn the CDC in 2001 leased the building to Convenience Food Systems, now GEA Food Services.
Years later, GEA gave 50,000 square feet back to the city. Frisco leaders decided it was a good chance to test the market and see what could be done with the building.
The city agreed on terms with Sci-Tech Discovery Center and Frisco Arts and in November 2009 the CDC started a $3 million renovation project.
Sci-Tech opened temporarily in October 2009 before the grand opening of Sci-Tech, the theater and the art gallery in October 2010.
GEA's lease is up for negotiation in 2016, and Carley said the CDC would explore the possibility of more space to add to the Discovery Center in the future.
