Longway Planetarium Renovation

Longway Planetarium is undergoing a complete overhaul of our system! We are stripping the planetarium right down to the concrete and building back up. This includes new carpeting, seating, lighting system, 7.1 surround sound, new tilted interior dome screen for comfort, and of course an all new projection system.

This new projection system is capable of creating 4k video across the entire 52.5 foot dome at the same time. It can fly you through the Mariner Valley on Mars, the Rings of Saturn, take you on a dizzying roller coaster ride, play full dome documentaries and movies, and as always, brings you a beautiful, full color, twinkling star field to discuss what is happening in our skies.

The construction is progressing nicely and there has already been a lot of hard work put in here at Longway. (You can see it all here on our timelapse https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsoADz3EqwIx2Yqmr_TW1tA) But we need your help! We need the support of the community to help us finish this massive undertaking. Donations of any amount are accepted and very much appreciated as we push forward during the last leg of our race. Any donation will land your name among the stars during the introduction piece we are developing that will air before every show.

Perhaps you have enjoyed having Longway's star shows, Holiday Walk laser shows, and other events for years. Perhaps you just love how epic and exciting the new planetarium system sounds and can't wait to see your first show here.

Perhaps, just perhaps, you need a little more incentive. The first 100 donations of 20 dollars or more will receive two invitations to our donor preview on May 28th beginning at 5:30 p.m. running until 7:30 p.m.

The second 100 donations of 20 dollars or more will receive two invitations to our ribbon cutting ceremony on May 29th beginning at 3:00 p.m. and running until 5:00 p.m.

Families who need more than two tickets are welcome to attend the Weekend of Wonder event that will be held May 30th with free shows running between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. and May 31st with free shows running between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m.

In the event of more than 200 donations of 20 dollars or more we will be creating a third private event and anyone past the 200th donation will receive an invitation to that event.

Donations of $1000 or more will get your name, or a name of your choosing, permanently on a brass plaque on the back of one of our new seats.  

Donations of $20 up to $999 will have the name of the donor (if provided) appear on the dome in the stars during our opening show sequence all summer long.

This donation to the Longway Planetarium’s Universe of Possibilities Campaign is a tax deductible charitable donation. Longway Planetarium is a member organization of the Flint Cultural Center Corporation, a 501c3 not-for-profit institution.  A recognition letter stating the amount of your gift will be e-mailed directly from the Flint Cultural Center Corporation.  Your receipt will state that the donations are for the Longway Planetarium Renovation. Jeffrey Stark, our planetarium manager, is the campaign organizer. 

Thank you so much for your support, we can't wait to show you what we can do!