Out of this world planetarium at Centennial High School to live on thanks to this donation

Demolition of Centennial High School's current building will begin this fall, but its prized planetarium will live on thanks to an in-kind donation.

Pueblo School District 60 has agreed to donate Centennial's Christa McAuliffe Planetarium to the Southern Colorado Community Foundation. With help from Arrigo Construction and Restoration, the foundation will relocate the planetarium's digital theater system, projector, dome screen panels, sound system and interactive chairs.

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"We feel like it's too good of a resource to get rid of," foundation executive director Jeff Osterman said. "Our No. 1 goal is getting it removed and properly stored until we can find the right place to have a permanent home for it."

The planetarium opened in 1974 after the current Centennial High School was built on Mountview Drive. The planetarium's namesake, Christa McAuliffe, tragically died aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in January 1986. McAuliffe was a history teacher at Concord High School in New Hampshire who was selected to go to space through the NASA Teacher in Space Project.

Throughout the years, the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium has been a popular destination for student field trips, been the benefactor of hundreds of thousands in donations and benefitted from several renovations. In 2008 and 2009, the planetarium received seating, sound system and projection system upgrades.

Centennial's Christa McAuliffe Planetarium is one of few high school planetariums in the country equipped with a Evans & Sutherland Digistar 3 projection system. It also has 60 interactive chairs and two seating areas with accessible features.

While the new Centennial High School building, set to open this fall, will include expanded space for the school's Health Academy and construction technology programs, a planetarium was not included in the $74 million bond-funded project. However, the district agreed to research the viability of relocating the planetarium following a surge in community interest.

Pueblo D60 board of education members unanimously voted to accept a donation request from the Southern Colorado Community Foundation at a May 16 meeting. Board member Anthony Perko said the district had received several communications from Centennial alumni, members of the Centennial High Foundation and other community members interested in preserving the planetarium.

"It came down pretty close to the wire," Perko said. "I am glad that we found this solution and that the planetarium will remain an asset to the community."

The planetarium's permanent location has not been chosen yet, but the goal is to keep it in Pueblo. The foundation will reach out to donors and prospective parties to get feedback on a potential location. Arrigo Construction and Restoration will begin the planetarium's removal and storage process following the final day of programming at the planetarium on May 31.

Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo D60 donates Centennial planetarium to community foundation