Background& Campaign History:

"Save Jeffco Dome" is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to sharing modern immersive theater technologies tecnologies with local communities, starting with our own Planetarium in Lakewood CO!

When our director Ariel was a child, he felt lost and without direction. He felt hopeless and out of place, alone in a crowd full of people. Then one day he visited this local planetarium in Lakewood Colorado, and after seeing the full night sky for the first time, he finally found hope. That was the moment when he first felt purpose in his life, and he's been studying the universe ever since.

"From 2013 to 2016, I served at the Fiske Planetarium in Boulder Colorado, running birthday parties, private rentals, acting as the head laserist, conducting outreach, navigating through the cosmos for educational shows and live music concerts, and giving live presentations in front of thousands of local space enthusiasts. I continued to practice my skills at the Charles-Hayden Planetarium in Boston Massachusetts until 2017, and from my first full-dome experience to today I've visited domes all across our great nation. Now, I'm starting a campaign to reopen the facility that first sparked my dream and inspired my life's vision.

From my research, I've found that many people believe in reopening the Jefferson County planetarium. After funding ran out in the early 2010's, some groups and nonprofits have thrown around the idea of raising funds to bring my home planetarium back to life, but all have been fruitless. "

When Ariel first started the campaign to reopen the facility in 2019, he was met with loads of abundant support everywhere from news outlets and even planetariums across the world. He was even blessed with a small committee of people willing to volunteer to help him.

Then the pandemic hit. It didn't feel right to add more financial pressure when so many folks were suffering, and so campaigns and fundraising paused for that year.

Then, between 2021 and 2022, our focus shifted toward gaining favor with the district by attending community events, filing more of our paperwork, and doing small local events with our telescopes. in addition to that, Ariel chose to direct his personal attention on to getting out of debt so that way he could direct more of his personal funds toward this project, that goal he achieved in 2023.

During the prior year, you may have seen him at your local high school in Jeffco as he attended the conversations with Superintendent Tracy Dorland.

Over the past 5 years, our committee has been graced with support from all around the country, as students of Jefferson county reach far and wide. We've met thousands of people in person and online who have fond memories of this building, and many of whom have even offered free support to get the building running again.

Despite that, the district remains both blind and deaf to the benefits of having an immersive theater, and is no longer interested in keeping the building.

As such, we have decided to forgo getting this building open again, and instead have decided to start a new Planetarium for Lakewood from scratch!

Goal

WE NEED YOUR HELP LAKEWOOD! Ariel was told in person by superintendent Dorland on May 2nd that the district has made the final decision to demolish the building in order to expand Fletcher Miller. After hearing the news, we have decided to redirect our focus to becoming a substitute for our immersive theater by purchasing a portable planetarium that we can share with schools and the wider community.

The price point of a digitalis inflatable planetarium—including software and media—can be quoted at:

•Digitarium Software: $31,300

https://www.digitaliseducation.com/products-digitarium_theta_3

•Digitalis 8 meter Portable Planetarium: $21,830

https://www.digitaliseducation.com/domes

**Total: $53,130

Students will be able to use this software to remotely to create their own immersive theater experiences that could be shared both across Jefferson county as well as beyond!

The goal of an immersive theater is to create an unparalleled experience—either for entertainment or education—that can simply never be matched on a flat screen. Using modern technology, we can project nearly anything onto the Dome. Imagine not just flying through planets and galaxies, but also atoms, human anatomy, or swimming through the ocean?

A full Dome film can be about literally anything in any genre. we've even seen an immersive theater used to share real estate. A presentation for your investors and business partners would be wholly enhanced by incorporating a dome instead of a basic PowerPoint.

Whatever you can imagine on a normal screen, you can do 10 times better in a planetarium!

Rewards

As a show of gratitude to all donors who will help me achieve this dream, I will reward all contributions with a special gift:

All contributors of $50 or more will receive a FREE copy of my book, Majesty in Monotony, in which you can learn more about the universe and our place in it.

Donors of $500 or more will receive a free signed copy of Majesty in Monotony, in addition to a personalized gift basket. On top of that, you get one free Star Party with some of our expert astronomers! bring your friends, telescopes and binoculars, and wear plenty of layers!

Donors of $5000 or more will receive a signed book, a personalized gift basket, a Star Party, and a private video jockey experience to demonstrate the immersive capabilities of a modern Planetarium. think crazy special effects with music under the Dome (like renting out the sphere in Las Vegas with your friends)

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!

~Ariel Manzanares-Scisney

Everyday Cosmic Perspective

"Learning, Teaching, Daily"