The $1.5 million the previous Hinds County Board of Supervisors pledged for the renovation of the Russell C. Davis Planetarium in downtown Jackson could be in jeopardy.
In August 2021, the supervisors approved an interlocal agreement with the city to support the project. The board voted in November 2023 to allocate $1.5 million from the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funding for it.
Robert Graham, who represents District One and is the newly elected president of the board, voted in favor of the funding for the planetarium that is located at 201 E. Pascagoula St. and has been closed since April 2018 due to roof damage.
Since those votes were taken, the composition of the board has changed. It now it has three new members and two who were on the board when the vote to fund the planetarium was taken.
New to the board are Tony Smith of District Two, Deborah Butler-Dixon of District Three and Wanda Evers of District Four.
Graham and Bobby “Bobcat” McGowan are the only current members of the board who won re-election.
New members of the board want to know more about the project.
“They want to study it,” Graham said. “I don’t know what their decision is going to be.”
Smith, the retired owner of a computer sales and services company, said the board is studying the county’s budget.
“Until we have our next meeting, we’re not discussing it,” he said of the funding for the planetarium. “I’m staying neutral at this point. It would be premature to say more.”
Hinds County has plenty of buildings, bridges and roads in need of repair, said Butler-Dixon, who knew the planetarium is currently closed.
“We haven’t discussed it,” said Butler-Dixon, a retired employee of Delphi Packard Electric Systems who served in the state House of Representatives from 2012-2019. “We don’t know anything. The previous supervisors didn’t discuss it with us.”
It will take four members of the board to approve rescinding the funding approved by the previous board.
Funding for the renovation, a mix of public and private sources, totals $20.3 million and includes $8 million from a city of Jackson bond issue, $1 million from the state and $500,000 from the city’s Community Development Block Grant program.
Pledges include $2 million from the Community Foundation for Mississippi, $1.5 million from the Hinds County supervisors, $1 million from an unnamed family gift, $500,000 from the Junior League of Jackson, $500,000 from Ergon Foundation, $300,000 from the Marie R. Hoerner Foundation, $100,000 from the Hardin Foundation, $100,000 from the Regions Foundation, $100,000 from Entergy, $100,000 from the Pruet Foundation, $50,000 from Atmos, $50,000 from Downtown Jackson Partners and $25,000 from Trustmark.
New Market Tax Credits, which are meant to attract private investment and spur community development and economic growth, are estimated at $4.18 million, not including the state tax credits.
Construction began last month and is expected to take 18 months, with the reopening of the planetarium taking place in the late spring or early summer of 2025, said Mike Williams, deputy director of human and cultural services for the city of Jackson and planetarium director.
One reason for the 18-month time frame of the project is the construction of a new building with a three-story atrium that will adjoin the Arts Center of Mississippi and provide greater prominence for the planetarium.
“The project is in the demolition stage,” Williams said. “All of the canopy that sat above the entrance to the Arts Center on Lamar Street has been demolished.”
Fountain Construction Co. is handling construction. Cooke Douglass Farr Lemons Architects + Engineers is providing architectural design services.
Falcon’s Treehouse LLC, which specializes in themed entertainment design, is handling exhibit design. Falcon’s Treehouse has provided services for institutions such as the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C., the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex at Cape Canaveral and the Singapore Science Center.
The exhibits will be infused with science, technology and math principles because space science includes all of that, Williams said. “People think of an astronaut when they think of space science, but it has a wider aperture,” he said.
Many adults in the metro area have fond memories of attending programs at the planetarium, which opened in 1979, said former Jackson Mayor Kane Ditto, who served the city from 1989 until 1997 and leads the fundraising efforts for the planetarium. “We run into lots of adults who went to the planetarium when they were children,” he said.
David Lewis, then deputy director of cultural services for the city of Jackson and now executive director of the Mississippi Arts Commission, told the city council in October 2022, that the planetarium is not expected to be a revenue burden for the city.
Based on other museums, the planetarium should easily draw about 60,000 paying visitors annually, which is a conservative estimate, he said. Admission was estimated to cost $10 to $15 per person, he said.
Besides admission, revenue will also come from concessions, merchandise, space rentals, special events and after-hours programs, Lewis said.
Rickey Thigpen, Ph.D., president and CEO of Visit Jackson, said he expects the newly renovated planetarium to draw tourists, be an educational resource for students and teachers and provide an economic boost for the city and state.
“Somebody asked me the other day about the construction fence that is up in that area,” he said. “It means progress. This will be an opportunity for Mississippi to have one of the most technology forward, savvy education center for space study and research in the nation.”
Before closing, the planetarium had an economic impact of $2.1 million annually, said Thigpen, who expects the economic impact of the new facility with its new technology and programming to be even greater.
Visit Jackson will begin marketing the planetarium throughout the state and beyond the state about six months before a firm opening date is set. “When the doors open, we want to have visitors here for that experience,” he said.
Thigpen expects new stories about the new facility to provide a positive boost for both the image of the city and state.
The planetarium represents “collaborative ambition,” Thigpen said. “This has been a multi-year project. We’re thankful for the board of supervisors and other partners that have contributed to it.”
