OCC planetarium upgrade gets jump-start
County picks up tab for renovations; groups will fund new equipment
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER
Staff Writer

Ocean County College Planetarium Director Gloria Villalobos (r) chats with employee Debbie Daly. The OCC Foundation and the citizen group Save the Planetarium Fund Inc. launched a kickoff campaign to raise funds to reopen the facility. The planetarium closed last fall due to budget cuts.

TOMS RIVER - So what would Ocean County College planetarium director Gloria Villalobos say to the phony philanthropist who pledged $2.5 million last year to help keep the facility open?

"I don't know if words would be appropriate," Villalobos said with a grimace. "I don't have the time or energy to spend on worrying about him. My goal is to save this place."

Villalobos got more concrete help to do just that on Friday from the Ocean County College Foundation and the Board of Freeholders.

Freeholder Director John P. Kelly said the county would fund the cost of renovating the 32-year-old Robert J. Novins Planetarium, a school trip destination for generations of Ocean County children and a focal point for stargazers.

"Here is a commitment from the Board of Freeholders that this place will reopen," Kelly said during the kickoff of the Ocean County College Foundation's "Reach for the Stars" campaign.

And the renovations will be extensive, not just cosmetic, he said. "It's [cosmetic repairs] not practical; it's not responsible," Kelly said. "It will not happen. We are going to have a first-class facility. We love the place."

The planetarium was closed last fall, the victim of budget cuts after state aid to the college was shaved.

"It was almost like a knee-jerk reaction," said Peggi W. Gamba, vice president of Save the Planetarium Fund, Inc. "It wasn't making money."

The board of trustees' decision to close the planetarium was just one of a number of items in a package to either be cut or put on hold, college spokesperson RoseAnn D'urso said.

"The college was forced to evaluate its overall budget and establish efficiencies," she said.

The Robert J. Novins Planetarium opened on Oct. 26, 1974. Within a few months, the planetarium's school programs were booked for several months in advance.

The facility closed on Sept. 1, 2006.

"The freeholders are going to assist with the renovations of the building," D'urso said. "That does not include the equipment. The fundraising we are doing is for the hardware, the latest projection technology."

The planetarium needs a new star projector, a new three-dimensional video dome system and an enhanced audio system, Villalobos said.

"That will give us nice, crisp stars, so you really feel that you are under the nighttime sky," she said. "It's truly a whole new dimension for what you can do with it."

The college has been pricing the different systems, Villalobos said.

"The prices are coming out about the same, close to a million with those two components," she said.

The proceeds from the Ocean County College Foundation's annual summer gala will also be donated to the planetarium fund, said Stephan R. Leone, a member of the OCC's Board of Trustees, the OCC Foundation and the campaign chairman.

Leone and his wife will be honored as the humanitarians of the year at the event.

The summer gala usually nets around $250,000, he said.

"It's a nice boost for the Save the Planetarium campaign," Leone said."

Edward Devine's bogus pledge could be a "blessing in disguise" because it brought all the groups together to help save the facility, he said.

"It all started with small donations," he said. "Every dollar is important and moves us closer to our goal."

Kelly said he met with OCC President John Larsen and board Chairman Carl V. Thulen Jr. about two months ago to discuss what they thought should be done with the planetarium.

The options were either to tear it down or renovate the building and equipment, Kelly said.

"Put in classroom space so that the science classes can use this and the building will generate revenue to pay the operating costs of running the building," he said. "It made a lot of sense to me. I stand behind it 100 percent. "We think it's a good investment for the college to reopen the planetarium."

The college is planning a memorial service on May 19 to honor R. Erik Zimmermann, the planetarium's longtime director. Zimmermann died in January.

For more information about donations call the Ocean County College Foundation at 732-255-0492, or go on-line at Save the Planetarium Fund, Inc. at www.SavethePlanetariums.org.