Kenosha---Few high schools have their own planetariums. There’s a chance that there’ll be one fewer in the months ahead.
The Kenosha School Board is expected to decide at the end of the month whether to save the planetarium at Bradford High School, or tear it down and use the money for another project. The funds in question all have to be used for energy-savings projects.
Since the news broke last spring that the planetarium could be in jeopardy, there’s been a flurry of activity in the heretofore little-used structure.
But at a school board committee meeting this past week, no advocate emerged for saving the place, and the committee voted to recommend to the full board that it be demolished.
Facilities Director Pat Finnemore said an extra $70,000 would be available if the planetarium would be scuttled. That money, he said, would be redirected to such things as new lighting for the auditorium and a new filtration system for the school's pool. It's not as if we're trying to cut money from the Bradford project," said Finnemore. "We're just trying to use the money for the best interests of the school and students," he said.
Others at this week's meeting noted that there are new, more efficient ways to observe the night sky, such as a variety of new apps. Bradford's planeterium uses a projector to display night skies on the ceiling of the structure.
A Bradford physics teacher appears to be leading the charge to save the planetarium. He’s organized and designed a series of Saturday morning shows in the planetarium that are open to the public.
The school board is scheduled to make the final decision at its Nov. 27th meeting.
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