Fundraising for the renovation of the Russell C. Davis Planetarium, which has been closed since April 2018 due to a roof leak and interior damage, continues.
About $3.5 million of the $12 million needed to renovate the planetarium at 201 E. Pascagoula St. has been raised, said David Lewis, deputy director of the city of Jackson Department of Human and Cultural Services.
“The planetarium is very much a beloved facility,” he said. “We’ve had a remarkable response from people who love the planetarium.”
Last year, the Legislature appropriated $1 million in funding for the renovation as part of a $291 million bond bill.
The plan was to request a total of $10 million spread over the two legislative sessions in 2020 and 2021 for JXN 200, a project to mark Jackson’s bicentennial that will be celebrated from the end of 2021 through 2022. The $10 million would be used for renovations to Thalia Mara Hall, Eudora Welty Library, Smith Park and the planetarium, all of which are in downtown Jackson.
“We were shooting for the moon and seeing where we landed,” Lewis said. “Then the pandemic happened and priorities rearranged and shifted.”
The Jackson City Council on Dec. 22 passed a resolution in support of a proposed legislative request for $9 million to fund the JXN 200 Project.
Lewis said it remains to be seen how favorably the Legislature in the upcoming session will look on the request. “We don’t know what the appetite of the Legislature will be,” he said.
Should the Legislature approve $9 million in funding, the city is prepared to move ahead with all of the projects with the planetarium being at the top of the list because of the impact it would have on tourism.
“We want this project to see the light of day after we come out of the pandemic so it can lift up and boost tourism in the state,” Lewis said.
Fundraising for the planetarium renovation is strategic and doesn’t rely just on the state, Lewis said. “We’ll be applying for federal grants, looking at additional city funding and private fundraising,” he said.
Based on informal studies and attendance at other local attractions, it is anticipated about 60,000 guests would visit the planetarium each year, Lewis said.
“For reference, the Two Museums, the Children’s Museum and the Natural Science Museum bring in 120,000 visits a year,” he said. “That’s an aggregate of visitors at those facilities and pre-pandemic.”
The project calls for installing new exhibitions around the outside of the theater, Lewis said. The projector and screen in the theater are in good shape.
“We’d like to partner with NASA, tell the amazing local history of the planetarium and make sure we tell the Mississippi science story,” he said. “We’d like to bring the story of the Infinity Science Center. which is located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and serves as the official NASA visitor center for Stennis Space Center, NASA’s largest rocket engine test facility, to the capital city.”
Plans call for the second floor, which has been used as office space, to be gutted and turned into an adaptive learning space with an open floor plan and equipped with furniture that can be moved according to its use. “It could be a lecture hall, an after-hours class, a small screening room, a place for parties or camp,” Lewis said.
A new atrium that will connect with the Mississippi Arts Center and provide a new entrance off of Pascagoula Street will provide the planetarium higher visibility. “This will be a more celebrated entrance,” Lewis said.
Built in 1979, the planetarium is one of the largest in the region, Lewis said. The planetarium has offered a theater experience with a variety of content with programs ranging from stargazing to “travel” to various planets.
Roof damage that resulted from a hail storm forced the closure of the planetarium in April 2018. “We made the decision not to reopen but to take the time to do a full and proper renovation,” Lewis said.
Construction is anticipated to take all of 2021 and part of 2022, he said.
Before the pandemic, April 2022 was the date targeted for reopening, Lewis said. “We’re doing everything we can to open it in 2022,” he said.
The adaptive learning space will provide room for the educational arm of the planetarium and give the city something it lacks, Lewis said.
“We don’t have a dynamic STEM center in the capital city,” he said. “The Natural Science Museum focuses on natural science.”
Lewis said he looks forward to the planetarium welcoming adults who enjoyed the attraction when they were children and he hopes that their children will find it just as attractive as their parents did when they were younger. “We want to make sure we do it impeccably well,” he said.
City Council member Virgi Lindsay praised the planning for the renovation as innovative.
“I have nothing but the highest praise for the administration and staff on this,” she said. “Not only did they come up with the vision but they’ve worked on the funding.”
Lewis said he is sure that the necessary funds for the renovation will be raised. “We feel very confident based on conversation we’ve had with many partners,” he said.
