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The University of Maine System has approved plans for a new planetarium and observatory. It is expected the new building will be at the corner of Long Road and Rangeley Road, by the Hilltop parking lot.
The budget for the project is roughly $5.2 million and covers both construction and technology costs. The University of Maine Foundation donated $2,186,395 and over the next three to five years will donate an additional $1 million.
Institutional funds cover $1 million of the projected costs. The remaining $1 million will be raised in a capital campaign from three groups: the Office of University Development, the University of Maine Foundation, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Alan Davenport, director of the Jordan F. Maynard Planetarium, said technology upgrade costs are expected to run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Those projected costs are included in the $5.2 million budget.
He has his eye on digital projection technology, which uses a computer to generate 360-degree images, much like an OMNIMAX movie, which, Davenport said, will help the planetarium upgrade from its current method of using slides and separate soundtracks for shows.
“We have been using what you could call ‘legacy equipment,’ and it’s fast becoming outmoded,” he said. “When I say old, it’s an antique. We have a 100 year-old telescope. Even the process for making glass has changed in that time.”
Davenport does not want to lose that history with the construction of the new planetarium. The current observatory, located between the Memorial Union and the MaineBound barn, houses the 100 year-old telescope.
It has not been decided if that building will be torn down, but Davenport hopes to see the telescope either moved to the new location or maintained at its current location.
“Even though it’s primitive, it’s a beautiful piece of history,” he said. “It’s still useable.”
If the telescope is moved to the new location, Davenport believes by using it along with the new, larger telescope he plans to buy, the new planetarium technology would foster more comprehensive programming and research between the observatory and planetarium.
“They can work very well together, which they currently don’t,” he said.
The new observatory would also be networked with observatories across the globe to share research- quality images.
The current planetarium, located on the second floor of Wingate Hall, was built in 1954 and has 35 seats. According to the approval summary from the university, it “has close to 10,000 visitors per year, approximately 66 percent of whom are school children.”
With such an influx of younger visitors, university officials have sighted a safety concern with traffic on Munson Road in front of Wingate Hall. The proposed building would alleviate those concerns.
Seating will also be increased to 50 in the new planetarium, something that Davenport said could lead to more student employment opportunities there.
Additionally, Davenport expects to see “quite a few more activities in the new facility,” including more diverse entertainment options and evening shows for students.
Construction will not begin until fall 2012, according to Elaine Clark, executive director of Facilities Management, Real Estate and Planning. Proposals from design firms were due last week and will be narrowed down based on skill and experience, with interviews planned for the end of September and a selection slated for mid-October, she said.
The proposed area for the planetarium and observatory is located to the left of the Hilltop parking lot access road next to the Littlefield Ornamental and Trial Gardens and to the left of the Material Recovery Facility. The new location has the least ambient light on campus, allowing the telescope to get clearer images than it can now.
