Groundbreaking at the International Dark Sky Discovery Center in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Photo credit: IDSDC
By David Bullock
FOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ (The Space Page Dot Com) — Yesterday, around 1,000 people attended the groundbreaking of the International Dark Sky Discovery Center (IDSDC) in Fountain Hills, Arizona, a small city located north of the Phoenix metro area. Members of the STEM non-profit’s board of directors, Fountain Hills Mayor Ginney Dickey and local Arizona State Senator John Kavanagh all spoke at the groundbreaking. Attendees listened to the speakers, wore disposable sunglasses specially made for the solar eclipse and toured the facilities including the site’s library.
IDSDC President Joe Bill said at the event, “Today is history in the making. We are not just turning over some desert sand today, we are laying the foundation for a future filled with discovery. The International Dark Sky Discovery Center is a truly extraordinary science facility.”
Bill said the center will have a Night Sky Science Exhibit Hall. This Hall will showcase different types of lighting that people use and have used. For example, gas lights and LEDs will be exhibited. Grammar schools, high schools and higher education institutions will use the facilities, including a planetarium and a telescope. One of the schools of higher education is Arizona State University. ASU’s main campus is less than an hour’s drive in Tempe. Leadership from IDSDC and local government all hope that the new center will attract global visitors.
Public awareness is important for Fountain Hills. Light pollution, which prevents both astronomers and the general public from seeing the night sky be it with a telescope or with their own eyes, is increasing around the world at ten per cent a year. Fountain Hills is now the 17th International Dark Sky community in the world and one of the few that are close to a metro area. Bill believes that, “[The Fountain Hills community having the IDSDC] is a symbol for a brighter… well darker future.”
There have been around 300 major donors to the IDSDC and the organization is looking for more. One seven-figure donation came from Craig and Ruth Gimbel who were honored with the naming rights to the IDSDC’s Hyperspace Planetarium, a sixty-six-seat facility on the IDSDC campus.
State Senator John Kavanagh said at the event, “The Fountain Hills Dark Sky Discovery Center will benefit Arizona in many ways, including becoming a learning destination for middle and high school students from the entire county, an educational tool for university astronomy students, a world-class research facility, a tourist attraction for Fountain Hills, and an economic driver for the surrounding businesses.”
Kavanagh continued, “When you are under light you see the world, but when you’re under darkness you can see the universe.”
About the IDSDC:
The multi-functional International Dark Sky Discovery Center (IDSDC) will focus on how dark sky preservation relates not only to astronomy, but also to the well-being of humans, plants, and animals. The non-profit IDSDC will be located in the world’s 17th International Dark Sky Community, Fountain Hills, Arizona. To learn how you can help bring this amazing project to life, and donation opportunities go to www.darkskycenter.org.