No. The sentence is in the present tense. It telling about present possibilities. It is talking about things they can do now. "Pursued" would refer to something they did in the past. If the facility had closed, you could say it's sad, because it had been a place where they pursued knowledge. "To pursue" is the natural choice, but here are some other possibilities: ...a place for pursuing knowledge... ...a place where they can pursue knowledge... ...a place for the pursuit of knowledge...

Hello, no you need the infinitive in your sentence "...providing them with a place to pursue..." If you want to get "pursued" in you could rewrite that phrase using the passive. Do you want to have a go?