City News

The State of Alabama has announced a significant partnership with the Saban Center to create an innovative STEM hub for local and regional school districts that will prepare students, educators and the workforce for the future.

Gov. Kay Ivey announced the State’s partnership with the Saban Center during the Annual “State of the State” address on Tuesday, March 7.

The Alabama State Department of Education, the Saban Center, Tuscaloosa City Schools and the City of Tuscaloosa held a joint press conference on Wednesday, March 8 to discuss the newly announced partnership.

Watch the press conference here.

Nick and Terry Saban; Alabama State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Eric G. Mackey; Tuscaloosa City Schools Superintendent, Dr. Mike Daria; Saban Center Director, Audrey Buck; and Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox spoke during the press conference.

“Our Mayor and our City Council determined that our children deserve an elite STEM education center, and that our Tuscaloosa Children’s Theatre deserves a home. Since they ignited this project, it has gone from a spark to a roaring conflagration,” Terry Saban said. “This support from the state will ensure that the Saban Center will make a lasting impact on education.”

The STEM hub will build the capacity of local and regional school districts to deliver immersive STEM education to children. Additionally, it will provide professional development opportunities to educators across the state, making them better equipped to teach a STEM-centered curriculum.

“On behalf of the State of Alabama, thank you for involving communities beyond Tuscaloosa,” Dr. Mackey said. “What we bring to this as the State is a regional and state-wide approach to introduce our children to the many opportunities that exist for them in science, technology, engineering and math fields.”

Opening in 2026, the Saban Center is an immersive STEM hub and children’s performing arts center in Tuscaloosa made possible by a unique public-private partnership model.

“This community and our state, working together, have risen to the occasion to ensure that every child in Alabama has their shot at an American dream,” Mayor Maddox said. “Success is never an accident, and it rarely happens in isolation. Today, the State joins the long list of partners in this effort, without whom this elite STEM center would not be possible.”

Built to house two of Tuscaloosa’s most storied institutions, the Tuscaloosa Children’s Theatre and IGNITE (formerly the Tuscaloosa Children’s Hands-on Museum), the Saban Center will unite science, technology, engineering and math with the arts and outdoor recreation.

Learn more at sabancenter.org.