If there's anyone out there who can spare $1.5 million or more for a good cause, they need to come forward quickly. The fate of Richland's new Buzz Aldrin Center for Science and the Arts depends on a generous, but so far unknown, contributor.
Whoever can provide some funding for Richland's new center will achieve a little fame and will share the spotlight with Aldrin. They will also have naming rights for the center.
As part of a moon shot effort to raise funds to relaunch Richland's planetarium, Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin visited the campus Oct. 30, 2009, to raise funds for the center. Aldrin held a news conference in which he fascinated an audience with a beautiful video presentation of the Apollo 11 moon voyage. He also held a private evening dinner for corporate sponsors at the Adolphus Hotel.
The day's fundraising events brought in $86,600, but since then, efforts to raise more to finish the center have fizzled. In addition to his moon mission in July, 1969, Aldrin had an equally significant mission at Richland – to lend his inspiration, vision and legacy to the center.
Janet James, dean/executive assistant to president, said the $86,600 that was taken in was used to defray the expense of the events.
"They just broke even," James said. "The target was $1.5 million. We just didn't come close. The timing was such that the economy went south."
Since Aldrin's visit in 2009, two retired Texas Instruments donors have contributed financially toward the center, James said. They are Robert W. England and Edwin B. Hassler. Yet it doesn't come close to the amount needed to complete the center.
James said though the fundraising efforts have not succeeded for the Buzz Aldrin Center, the planetarium won't be idle.
"We need to put it in use as a classroom," James said. "We will knock out the back storage area to expand the seating area. We'll paint, put new lighting, freshen the carpet and use it as a classroom starting in the first summer session. It will be used as a general purpose classroom."
The planetarium is closed this semester, but as soon as facilities services finishes renovations on the Office of Student life, they will begin work on it.
Michael Gorton, chairman of the committee that brought Aldrin to the campus in 2009, said the whole project has been put on hold, but he would like to pick it back up.
Gorton said he wasn't sure now if there is the option to restore the planetarium for the Buzz Aldrin Center. There's the possibility it could be built near Woodall Rogers Park. He said he has spoken to Aldrin about the center and that they both want to see the project happen. It's just at a stalemate at this point.
For more information about the center, contact James at 972-238-6974 or at jjames@dcccd.edu.
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