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Arts & Entertainment

Securing the Planetarium's Future

Friends of Arlington's David M. Brown Planetarium has until June 30 to raise $402,800 to keep the planetarium open. The group still has $90,000 to go.

“The message that we need to get out to the community is that we appreciate all the support but contributions need to keep coming—we’re not done yet,” said Alice Monet, president of Friends of Arlington’s David M. Brown Planetarium, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization made up of volunteers dedicated to saving the facility. The group organized in response to an announcement in early 2010 by the Arlington Public Schools that it planned to close the planetarium.

Ray Anderson, who served as principal of H.B. Woodlawn for 33 years said, “The planetarium has not yet been saved.” Arlington Public Schools has given the group until June 30 to raise $402,800 to keep the facility open: funds are needed to replace the dome and seats and to purchase a new digital projector.

Anderson stressed that the organization still has to raise more than $90,000 to reach their goal.  According to Monet, an active program of events and special programs is planned for the final phase of the capital campaign. Per their Web site, they are presently at $310,237.  

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James Gartner, another founding member of the Friends of Arlington’s David M. Brown Planetarium, explained why he got involved. “It would have been such a waste to permanently lose an existing asset that most communities never even get a chance to have, especially when that asset is a science-based interactive classroom located right in the midst of a cluster that Arlington promotes as the epicenter of science and research in the metropolitan area,” he said. 

Former Arlington School Board member, Preston C. Caruthers, was also compelled to provide his support. Caruthers remembers fondly the opening of the planetarium 40 years ago and cites the overwhelming response of support from former students, relatives and friends as confirmation that the facility, which he describes as “an ongoing educational marvel,” needs to be upgraded and saved.

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“The forward-looking nature of the Planetarium—and of Arlington—has remained constant for 40 years,” said Gartner adding, “ In that time its influence has spread far beyond our county and even into space and the stars above, as told through the many fascinating personal stories in our online petition.”

It has been gratifying to the volunteers, according to Gartner, to be able to document for Arlington’s elected officials, just how important the planetarium is to the local community, and across the larger one as well. The grass-roots campaign has attracted the support of people like Bill Readdy, a former NASA astronaut and Arlington resident who shared a friendship with David M. Brown.

The Planetarium was renamed to honor Captain David M. Brown, a Yorktown High School graduate and NASA astronaut who perished when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during orbital reentry on Feb. 1, 2003.

Monet was quick to express her gratitude to all the individuals, groups and businesses that have come forward to offer their support—from high school astronomy clubs, to local bands that have held special fund-raising events. And just this week, Monet made the announcement that the Kimsey Foundation will be included among their major donors.

“After such a terrific year, it would be awful to end in failure, especially since as an unintended consequence of the effort, the future of the planetarium shines brighter then ever before,” noted Gartner.

To learn more about upcoming events or to make a donation, visit www.saveplanetarium.org.

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