By Khalida Sarwari
West Valley College has plans to transform its aging planetarium into a state-of-the-art facility, thanks to a $3.5 million donation from the Jean and E. Floyd Kvamme Foundation.
The donation, which marks the largest gift the college has received in its 48-year history, will go toward the construction of a new 33-foot dome, digital planetarium projector and theater seating.
The remainder is expected to be allocated to building a museum of science as well as establishing an endowment to develop ongoing programming and exhibits. An additional $1.5 million from Measure C will also go toward the overhaul project. The $350 million voter-approved bond authorizes the two district colleges, West Valley and Mission, to build and modernize their infrastructure.
“Many of our buildings are 40 and 50 years old and in drastic need of repair,” said Brad Davis, West Valley College’s interim president. “This will help modernize those facilities.”
Renovations are necessary to bring the more than 40-year-old planetarium to modern standards so that it can keep up with technological and scientific advances in astronomy, Davis said. The new digital projector, for example, will be able to show about 10,000 stars, replacing the planetarium’s current star projector, which can show about 1,000 stars.
The digital projector has the ability to reproduce the night sky with a much higher degree of accuracy, planetarium director Benjamin Mendelsohn said. He added that because everything will be computer-based, viewers will find it easier to jump ahead, or back, in time when looking at space.
The renovated planetarium will serve as a multidisciplinary resource not just for science students, but those studying the arts and other fields as well. It will also be a great tool for the community at-large, which wasn’t possible with the current facility, especially for teachers and students in K-12, Davis said.
“Our vision was to utilize our planetarium as a vehicle not only to educate our students at West Valley, but also to open our doors to the entire community, with the goal of interesting students currently in elementary and middle school to STEM education,” Davis said, referring to a program that attempts to raise children’s interest in science, technology, engineering and math. “This is just another opportunity for West Valley College to be a leader in that regard.”
The new facility will be named the Jean and E. Floyd Kvamme Planetarium in recognition of the Kvammes, who are 40-year residents of Saratoga. The couple had been looking for a quality project to support in the community, eventually deciding on the planetarium project, which they “saw [as] a natural fit with location and with interests,” the college states in a press release.
It also helped that a love of science runs in the family: Two of the Kvammes’ sons have always been interested in optics and have even built their own telescope. The Kvammes’ grandson has an avid interest in astronomy. The couple said that they hope the facility will encourage other children in the community to learn about the sciences.
The project is now in the initial design phase and is anticipated to be completed by summer of 2014.
West Valley College’s planetarium to receive $5 million overhaul thanks to largest-ever donation
