FOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ — Fountain Hills is getting closer to opening its International Dark Sky Discovery Center.
“It will be a unique facility, and it actually will be the world's center for uniquely connecting the night sky to life on Earth, with a lot of STEM education and leading edge learning experiences for all ages The Discovery Center will fulfill its mission to inspire the next generation and cultivate a greater understanding of our dark skies, our planet, in the universe. We really believe that the Discovery Center will be a national treasure for the state of Arizona,” said Joe Bill, president of the board for the International Dark Sky Discovery Center.
There's a special reason why the center broke ground in Fountain Hills.
"The Discovery Center rests on the prestigious designation of Fountain Hills as an International Dark Sky community that is critical for our mission. And in fact, it's interesting that out of the 200-plus designated dark sky places around the world, Fountain Hills is one of only 13 that are featured in the Smithsonian's ‘Lights Out’ exhibit,” said Bill.
*The video below showcases a crane lifting the Planetarium Dome into place for the International Dark Sky Discovery Center.
The future 22,000-square-foot facility will house a wide range of educational initiatives.
“We have five major components, and actually one of them that's quite unique for the greater Phoenix area is our Dark Sky Observatory; it will have the largest telescope in the greater Phoenix area, capable of research, public viewing, and it can be remotely controlled. It's a state-of-the-art telescope,” explained Bill. “We also have a [Hyperspace Planetarium] that will have tilted dome technology with some of the latest kinds of technologies that are needed for a facility like that. We'll have an Inspiration Theater with 150 tiered seats, a Night Sky Exhibit Hall that's going to provide a lot of the STEM education […] and then also the Einstein Exploration Station, which is an area for hands-on teaching of the physics of light.”
A CLOSER LOOK
Here are new renderings of the Night Sky Exhibit Hall.
“The exhibit hall is going to be focused on a lot of things, like ancient cultural astronomy, and how it was used for navigation. We'll have a model of Stonehenge explaining how they've built that with the understanding they had at the time of the summer and winter solstices,” said Bill. “We have an area that talks about the history of light, from campfires to candles to kerosene lamps through all the way up to LEDs; that will be an interesting section.”
PHASE ONE
An eclipse watch party took place alongside the groundbreaking ceremony for the International Dark Sky Discovery Center last spring on April 8, 2024.
“We had our groundbreaking last April, and we actually started building in July. Now what they're estimating is that our Phase One construction will be done this July, and then, of course, after that happens, we'll have some work to do on the inside, training the staff and getting the gift shop stocked, all of those kinds of things. So we are anticipating and opening in sometime in the fall.
“We have a good portion of the facility that will be open in the fall, but we are continuing our fundraising efforts, because as funds keep coming in, we are able to open more sections of the facility as time goes on,” said Bill.
So, what is slated to open in phase one?
“The Observatory will be completely done and its control room, the hallway to the observatory with lots of educational exhibits, the Pluto Snack Station, the gift shop, the lobby, the entryway, some offices, all of those will be open,” shared Bill to ABC15. “What we're working on now is getting the funds to furnish the interiors of some of the other areas, like the Planetarium and the exhibit hall.”
