At its October 4 meeting, the Shipyard Community Sailing and Science Center managed to pack a lot into one warehouse.

There were scientists and teachers, community members and sailors. There were conservationists and bankers, all grouped around round tables for one cause: getting ideas and community responses intertwined with the center's planning process.

The SCSSC met at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard with several different groups and individuals to discuss the proposed science and sailing center, which would fill a big void, Board President Pauline Dion said.

The stated goal of the SCSSC is to offer sailing, science and its derivatives to as many people as possible, without cost getting in the way. The SCSSC is a nonprofit aiming to bring science and sailing together.

“The idea came from (Shipyard President) Eric Graves, (Shipyard owner) Terry McClinch and myself,” Dion said. “We got together to talk about what opportunities we could offer through the Shipyard, and we came up with the Community Sailing and Science Center.”

There was a void for a community sailing and science center in the Midcoast region, Dion said, adding that similar projects have started in Portland and Rockland.

“There's a void and a need,” she said. “We saw that opportunity.”

The October 4 meeting was to bring together several different organizations, ranging from the Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce to the Coast Guard Auxiliary, to discuss what the SCSSC should offer and what the community would want to see in such a program.

“We wanted to get the community together and solicit ideas,” Dion said. “We're going to take a lot of the ideas and move forward.”

The SCSSC plan to look at strategies that have worked for similar organizations.

Dion said that when New England Science and Sailing was founded in 2004, it only had 14 students enrolled. Now, the organization reaches more than 1,200 students while collecting most of its money through fund raising.

The center is already a nonprofit, and it raised money through last summer's Nautical Auction and Rendezvous.

“We want something that will minimize economic and physical obstructions for anyone who wants to learn to sail,” Dion said.

The SCSSC would also invigorate the shipyard, Dion and Graves said in speeches delivered during the session.

“I think the center could benefit from using this facility,” Graves said, adding that programs focused on what the shipyard already does, like boatbuilding, could be incorporated into the curriculum.

The center's fast progress is helped by what Boothbay already offers, Dion said. With organizations like Bigelow Labs the Center would look to draw from the experience of its partners as it delves into its curriculum.

The center has a tentative start date of either late spring or early summer 2013, Dion said.

Ben Bulkeley can be reached at 633-4620 or bbulkeley@boothbayregister.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BBRegisterBen.