As one of several concurrent plans for downtown development, Middletown is in the running to be the next host site for the Science Center of Connecticut, which plans to move from its location in West Hartford when its lease expires in 2009.

Museum president and CEO Edward J. Forand Jr. has announced that he and his team will decide on a new location by the end of the year. According to Forand, there are at least seven other communities that have expressed interest in hosting, including West Hartford. Its mayor, Scott Slifka, has suggested the museum move to another area of the city, and the University of Hartford has also put forward new hosting sites within West Hartford.

The museum originally hoped to move to an area in East Hartford closer to downtown. Its plans changed in 2002 when the new Connecticut Center for Science and Exploration (CCSE) announced it would be built at the Adriaen’s Landing site in downtown Hartford. Forand said competition from the new center was not an issue.

“We think this is a wonderful opportunity to work collaboratively with [CCSE] to serve the community better than ever. Our focus has always been on children, and this will simply give us a chance to reaffirm our mission,” he said.

To help emphasize that focus, the Science Center, which is the fifth oldest children’s museum in the country, also plans to change its name. The new name has not yet been announced.

According to its website, the facility originally opened as the Children’s Museum of Hartford in 1927and plans to continue to focus on education aimed at children twelve years old and younger.

Middletown Mayor Domenique Thornton plans to meet with Forand and other museum representatives on Tuesday.

When asked about incentives Middletown would offer, Thornton said she would have to talk with museum representatives to find out what their needs were.

“We will be bringing our team to West Hartford to tour the facility,” Thornton said. “Middletown [already] has wholesome activities for children like Kidcity Children’s Museum, the Green Street Arts Center and Oddfellows Playhouse; even laser tag and Inflatable Fun Times are things oriented towards [kids], so we felt that it would be a wonderful addition.”

When asked about a particular downtown location, the mayor said it was still too early in the process to be seriously considered.

According to Thornton, there are several plans for developing Middletown in addition to the science museum, which include parking improvements, increased office space, and a $250 million project to develop an 85-acre waterfront downtown. These projects have been moving slowly and encountered various problems.

At the state level, Thorton has been pushing for $10 million in bond money for a proposed 600-car parking garage in the space bounded by Court Street and Dingwall Drive.

The waterfront development opportunity, which was announced in 2002 involves decommissioning the outdated River Road sewage plant and joining Middletown to the Mattabasset Sewer District in Cromwell. The Sullivan and Hayes company has already been chosen as the developer, but Thornton estimated a timeframe of at least three years before construction could begin.

“We are currently in negotiations with the Mattabassett plant,” Thornton said. “Once those have been formalized, we need to demolish the current sewage treatment plant, then we must [allow] construction time for the pump stations, infrastructure, etc. needed to move waste to the Mattabassett plant.”

Despite setbacks, the mayor said that taken together, additions such as a new museum, office complex, parking garage and waterfront development would be Middletown’s next big economic development venture. It would also mean good things for both Middletown’s taxpayers and schools.

“[The science museum] fits with the vision we have in mind for our downtown and for [Middletown] in general,” Thornton said. “We see a family-oriented, clean, safe town.”