Seattle’s Pacific Science Center lays off staff | Entertainment

Seattle’s Pacific Science Center is laying off nine staff members, the nonprofit announced Friday evening. 

The organization is laying off eight people in its guest services team as well as its director of theaters, representing a staff reduction of 5% — from 171 to 162. 

The announcement comes about a month after the news that PacSci would be selling about 20%-25% of its property, including its Boeing IMAX Theater, to the owners of the Space Needle. And it follows other changes to the center’s physical footprint, which sits on private land adjacent to, but separate from, the city-owned Seattle Center. 

“We have determined that PacSci’s operations after these physical changes do not require the same staffing level as before,” PacSci President and CEO Will Daugherty said in a statement. 

“These are not easy decisions, and we recognize the very real impact they have on our colleagues,” Daugherty added. “These changes reflect the honest scope of what PacSci’s operation looks like today, and our responsibility to ensure the organization’s long-term sustainability and community impact.” 

PacSci leadership said it became clear in 2023 that the nonprofit must sell some real estate to survive due to rising costs outpacing revenue growth as the organization’s campus continues to age. 

By selling the northeast corner of its campus, PacSci leadership has said, the idea is to sustain and upgrade less property while accessing more capital to invest in the remaining facilities. 

PacSci began making changes to its campus last fall. Since then, the organization has removed exhibits in the northeast corner; moved the main entrance to the upper level of Building 3 (at the south end of the courtyard); built a new desk for admissions, guest and member services, and installed digital self-service kiosks; opened the courtyard to the public; and reopened a long-closed exhibit space on the west side of its campus. 

In February, the center stopped operating the Boeing IMAX Theater as part of the sale process with the Space Needle. 

PacSci will continue operating its smaller Paccar IMAX Theater. Space Needle representatives have said they plan to keep running the Boeing IMAX Theater as a movie theater after a brief renovation, focused on improving the concessions and arrival experiences, scheduled to end in May.

Daugherty said the decision to lay off staff was made after an assessment of guest services and admissions since the changes. 

The organization is laying off its director of theaters, who’s been with the nonprofit for 27 years, along with eight people on the guest services team whose work includes admissions, concessions, membership support and theater ushering. 

PacSci “found other duties” for the two part-time and two full-time IMAX projectionists whose workloads decreased after the Boeing IMAX Theater stopped operating in February. The organization does not currently have plans for additional staff reductions, Daugherty said. 

Space Needle CEO Ron Sevart said in an email that once the sale closes, the company will release the job descriptions for the positions they’ll look to hire. “We believe we’ll hire more people than the Pacific Science Center historically employed in operating the Boeing IMAX Theater,” he said. “We hope any affected staff from the Pacific Science Center apply for these positions as they have great value in understanding how the theater works.” 

More details about the partnership with the Space Needle are forthcoming, but in a previous news release, the two organizations touted “immersive and interactive experiences.” PacSci and the Space Needle will mutually promote the activities, experiences and programming on each other’s property and the two organizations will offer joint and add-on ticketing options as well as special benefits for participants in each other’s membership programs.

“Once the transaction closes, we will start working on next steps with the Space Needle team,” Daugherty said.

Material from The Seattle Times archives was used in this report.

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