In 2011, Kai Grant and Bridgette Wallace participated in the Suffolk University Dr. Joseph Warren Urban Fellows Program, offered through the Center for Real Estate. Together, they worked on a Dudley Square rebranding project and came up with a big idea that would help the community.

They proposed converting the top floor of the old Ferdinand Furniture building into a multi-purpose education center called the Dudley Skylab. Over the past year, they have been refining their idea, and last week, the Dudley Vision Advisory Task Force met with community members to discuss the Skylab proposal.

The Bay State Banner reported that the Dudley Skylab would focus on science, engineering, arts, and technology programs for young and older populations. At the meeting, architects Chris Johns and Jason Hart of CUBE design + research showed sketches of how the new center may look.

It is too early to tell if the proposal will move forward. Carleton Jones, the new executive director of capital and facilities management at Boston Public Schools, is concerned about the actual amount of available space. He also noted that other nonprofits may also have ideas to pitch before the space is leased to any particular group.