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The Iron Yard coding academy to close in St. Petersburg

 
Instructors (from left) Mark Dewey, Jason Perry, and Gavin Stark greet the audience at The Iron Yard, 260 1st Ave. S, in St. Petersburg during "Demo Day" Friday, Oct. 7, 2016, at The Iron Yard, which is an immersive code school that is part of a trend of trying to address the shortage of programmers.  The academy is closing this summer.  [LARA CERRI   |   Times]
Instructors (from left) Mark Dewey, Jason Perry, and Gavin Stark greet the audience at The Iron Yard, 260 1st Ave. S, in St. Petersburg during "Demo Day" Friday, Oct. 7, 2016, at The Iron Yard, which is an immersive code school that is part of a trend of trying to address the shortage of programmers. The academy is closing this summer. [LARA CERRI | Times]
Published July 21, 2017

ST. PETERSBURG — The Iron Yard, a code-writing academy with a location in downtown St. Petersburg, will close for good this summer.

The coding academy prepares students for technology careers like software development. The school has been operating out of Station House, a coworking space in downtown St. Petersburg.

"Over the last four years, The Iron Yard has led the code school industry in preparing students for careers as software developers. The industry as a whole is still young and its leaders face the challenge of a nascent market, as well as the demands facing all institutions in the higher education marketplace," reads a blog posted on the Iron Yard's website. "In considering the current environment, the board of The Iron Yard has made the difficult decision to cease operations at all campuses after teaching out remaining summer cohorts. We will finish out summer classes completely, including career support."

Classes weren't cheap. Students paid $13,900 for a 12-week Iron Yard course in 2016, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

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While national chains that specialize in coding classes have grown with the demand for computer programmers, Iron Yard did not have a lot of competition in the Tampa Bay market.

The Iron Yard was Station House's first tenant, said Station House founder Steve Gianfilippo.

"We are sad to be losing such a wonderful tenant and resident in the St. Pete tech community," Gianfilippo said in an email to the Times. "Although Iron Yard will finish out the remainder of their lease with us, we did have a waiting list for their space and have already procured the next great company that will become part of the Station House family. It will certainly be great news for St. Pete and will be a catalyst for more high paying jobs in the downtown core."

Gianfilippo declined to comment further on the next tenant.

The Iron Yard will shut down every one of its 15 locations at the end of this summer.