Planetarium project
faces $6.4 million in cutsA tight budget shrinks the planned
museum and cultural center
HILO >> Plans for a museum and planetarium on the Big Island dedicated to astronomy and Hawaiian culture are being scaled back because of federal budget cuts.
The Mauna Kea Astronomy Education Center at the University of Hawaii at Hilo will showcase the telescopes atop Mauna Kea's summit, as well as the Hawaiian culture that is an integral part of the volcano, said George Jacob, the center's project director.
The center, to be built on the university campus across from the telescopes' base facilities, includes an 18.2-meter tilted-dome planetarium.
NASA's Ames Research Center recently completed a technical review of part of the $28 million project, which was scaled back because of a $6.4 million budget cut from the federal government, Jacob said.
"We are actually shrinking the building and deferring some elements of the landscape," Jacob said. "We are shrinking a bit of the exhibition gallery space, scaling down the planetarium."
The 49,000-square-foot center will be fully bilingual -- English and Hawaiian.
"Though we are aware that there is a very small number of people who speak Hawaiian, it still makes a visual statement," Jacob said. "Part of our mandate is to showcase the Hawaiian culture."
A groundbreaking to have been held on April 25 was postponed to accommodate U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye's schedule, he said. Inouye has been instrumental in raising most of the federal funds that are paying for the center.
"The whole project has taken off because of his initiative," he said.
However, the center is still trying to raise money to make up for the shortfall and is looking to state, corporate and private sources of funding, he said.
When it opens in 2005, the center expects about 250,000 visitors each year.
"Our primary audience is local, but we will definitely cater to tourists who visit the Big Island," Jacob said.
In addition to the astronomy and Hawaiian cultural exhibits, the center's planetarium will feature unusual seating.
The audience will sit on wedged recesses carved into a circular area designed to look like a cinder cone.