Established September 2006 Director James Albury Owner Santa Fe College | Type Science museum Phone +1 352-395-5225 | |
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Location Gainesville, Florida, US Website www.sfcollege.edu/planetarium/ Address X-129, 3000 NW 83 St, Gainesville, FL 32606, USA Similar Santa Fe College Teaching, Hippodrome State Theatre, Dudley Farm Historic S, Matheson History Museum, Curtis M Phillips Center for | ||
The Kika Silva Pla Planetarium is a 34-foot in diameter, domed theater that seats 60 people. The planetarium uses two projection systems. An In-Space-System (ISS) 1C-3K digital projection system by RSA Cosmos and an optical-mechanical Chronos Space Simulator manufactured by Goto.
History
The planetarium was dedicated in September 2006 and officially opened to the public in September 2007 and is located on the Northwest Campus of Santa Fe College. The Kika Silva Pla Planetarium was made possible by a donation of John Pla and his wife Amy Howard, on behalf of the Pla family, in recognition of his mother, Kika Silva Pla's, commitment to education and passion for social justice and civic engagement. The planetarium was funded with additional support from a special federal appropriation arranged by Congressman Cliff Stearns.
Laurent Pellerin was the planetarium's first coordinator. James C. Albury became the planetarium coordinator in October 2009, and is a co-host on the internationally syndicated PBS show "Star Gazer".