2 Butler County communities partner with NASA for future discovery and education center

MARS, Pa. — It’s the story of many small towns, businesses come and go; but without an anchor, the district doesn’t thrive.

“It’s more of a stopover point. You park your car, you use the restroom, go to a store and 15-30 minutes later you probably leave,” said Michael Fleming, the Mars Borough Council president.

But that’s what these leaders are working to change through a collaboration between the Borough of Mars and Adams Township. Putting their wallets together, the two communities were able to secure the old Mars National Bank site, now NexTier Bank, as a new multi-story library and NASA education discovery center.

“I think it’s a good idea to have any kind of business that will help the community come into town. We lose too much here and it’s nice to see something coming back,” said Joe Stadtfeld, who lives in Mars.

With NASA serving as a partner, the vision for the center includes the planet Mars and STEAM education.

“The three main spaces are a maker space, a metaverse where the kids can actually put on the goggles and dream about things making it a reality and the third thing to have the research components,” said Mars Mayor Gregg Hartung.

While the idea was in the works for five years, the news just became public to residents last week, with the finalization of the property. Now these leaders are looking to the community for the next step.

“In these communities, we have so many people that can put their name and legacy on this actual project. We are talking about anybody from architects, interior decorators all the way to demolition companies that can help us to drive the cost down,” said Russell Ford, the Adams Township chairman of the board.

The overall cost is still up in the air as the next phase is to design the ideas in the space, but it will be a mix of grant funding and dollars from the municipalities.

“This downtown community is one we are hoping will be revitalization and this will be a start of a revitalization and I think it’s something all the residents of Adams and Mars to be proud of,” Ford said.

The hope is to have shovels in the ground by 2026, but that could change based on future partnerships.

In the final building, there will also still be a satellite space for NexTier Bank.

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