ATLANTA — As astronauts journey to the moon and back, local students will soon be able to look to the stars.
The old APS Planetarium at Harper-Archer Elementary School -- a landmark many kids grew up visiting -- is getting new life.
The planetarium was built during the space race when the school was a high school.
It then closed 25 years ago, and was being used as a middle school at the time
The school will soon reopen at Harper-Archer Elementary.
The circular space will contain a 40-foot-high new dome screen with full planetarium viewing, along with a renovated auditorium next door, and advanced learning spaces for not just astronomy and science, but chemistry, physics, arts, and history.
“It was amazing. Being a small kid, never seen anything like it,” said Wayne Cleveland, an alumnus of the old C.L. Harper High School.
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Cleveland and other alumni remember visits to the school.
A teacher of 20 years at the school, Janet Milton, remembers kids from all over the district pouring in for field trips.
“And them leaving with this bright face. They could not believe what they had seen,” Milton told Channel 2’s Steve Gehlbach.
But it’s taken two-and-a-half decades to now re-open the Harper-Archer Planetarium, a moment APS Board of Education member Ericka Y. Mitchell has been fighting for since joining the school board nine years ago.
“This is so important because I know how this is going to shape and change the lives of our students, and I’m so honored to be a board member, to be serving a district that still has that fight to not give up,” Mitchell said.
She was joined by Atlanta Public School leaders, board members, the superintendent, and those in the community for Thursday’s announcement, knowing that simply looking to the sky can open doors for students.
“The planetarium becomes the bridge between watching history and becoming part of it,” Mitchell said.
“It brought life to this area, so I’m glad to see it back. I’m excited,” Milton said.
APS is looking for corporate sponsors and plans to use the upcoming ESPLOT, or a penny sales tax voted on in November, to help fund the planetarium.
They hope to open in the next few years.