Fort Wayne’s Legacy Committee approved a request from Science Central for $500,000 to construct a planetarium on its premises on a 7-2 vote.
The planetarium has an overall cost of $2.4 million, which Science Central director Martin Fisher says will connect residents to real-time looks at the sky and outer space. He says this is possible through a partnership with NASA, with whom Science Central has worked before.
The proposal was introduced in November but was placed on hold, as the committee wanted Science Central director Martin Fisher to secure more outside funding sources. He says of three requests that were put out, two were met favorably.
The approval came after more than an hour of discussion between members over the committee’s overall role as a fiduciary body, with members lamenting a lack of guidance as to how exactly Legacy money should be disbursed.
Despite the lengthy debate, the committee overwhelmingly approved the project.
Ron Turpin and Stephanie Crandall were the dissenting votes. Turpin expressed his concerns over the future status of the Legacy Fund and how much money remains in it. Crandall said she was hoping to see something bigger, like unveiling plans to fully construct the campus.
Fisher’s proposal will now go to City Council for approval. Paddock, Michael Barranda and Paul Ensley serve on both Council and the Legacy Committee. All three agreed on the proposal’s “transformative” nature and greenlit the request for further debate in Council.
Full disclosure, Martin Fisher is the volunteer host of WBOI’s “Weekly Experiment” segment.
