continued - Great Lakes Planetarium Association

S T A T E N E W S
STATE CHAIRS
ILLINOIS: Bart Benjamin
Cernan Earth and Space Center
Triton College
2000 Fifth Avenue
River Grove, Illinois 60171
(708) 456-0300, Ext. 3408
bbenjami@triton.edu
INDIANA: Alan Pareis
9421 Stagecoach Drive
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46804
(260) 432-8786
bellerophonii@aol.com
MICHIGAN: Daniel Tell
Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium
Grand Rapids Public Museum
272 Pearl Street NW
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503
(616) 456-3563
dtell@grmuseum.org
OHIO: Dale Smith
BGSU Planetarium
Department of Physics & Astronomy
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, Ohio 43403
(419) 372-8666
dsmith@newton.bgsu.edu
WISCONSIN/ Dave DeRemer
MINNESOTA: Charles Horwitz Planetarium
S14 W28167 Madison Street
Waukesha, Wisconsin 53188
(262) 896-8423
dderemer@waukesha.k12.wi.us
5
Illinois will join with the Wisconsin,
Iowa, Minnesota Planetarium
Society (WIMPS) for a
multi-state meeting on May 13
and 14, 2011. The meeting will
begin Friday evening at Yerkes
Observatory in Wisconsin. On
Saturday, the combined meeting
will be hosted by the Adler
Planetarium in Chicago.
The William M. Staerkel Planetarium
at Parkland College will
open 2011 with Evans & Sutherland’s Secrets of the Sun,
their own Winter Prairie Skies, and Chaffee Planetarium’s
Solar System Safari. Their “World of Science” lecture series
continues on the first Friday of the month with talks on
the periodic table, the cow genome, and the emerald ash
borer. Planning continues for the 2011 GLPA Conference.
More information will appear in the summer newsletter.
Ground was broken for the new Peoria Riverfront
Museum on September 7, 2010, with a projected opening
date of October 20, 2012. This project was first conceived
in 1989 as an expansion to the existing museum, but has
grown considerably in scope. The new museum will have
three times the exhibit area, a 40' planetarium (with the
current Zeiss ZKP4/Quinto Powerdome System to be
moved into the new dome), and a giant screen theater. The
existing community solar system will be rebuilt based on a
46' Sun to be laid in concrete on the plaza outside of the
new planetarium. Those interested in the project can get a
closer look at www.buildtheblock.org. The existing Lakeview
Museum of Arts & Sciences will be incorporated into
the new museum, along with exhibits from the Historical
Society, Nature Conservancy, Illinois High School Association,
African American Hall of Fame Museum, and Regional
Museum Society.
The Cernan Earth & Space Center on the campus
of Triton College in River Grove presents its annual
holiday show titled Celebrations of Winter (which is making
its 23rd annual run this year) and the Winter Wonderlight
laser light show. In January, they will premiere the
Detroit Science Center’s Bad Astronomy on an all-new
three screen video system, along with their own Best of
Pink Floyd laser show, Our Place in Space children’s
show, and Minneapolis’ Xtra Terrestrial Files.