Morehead renovation on hold

A lack of funding has caused the six-year delay of the renovation of Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, now scheduled to begin in January 2010.

The Morehead renovation has been on UNC’s maintenance list since 2002.

But a $400 million backlog of campus maintenance has set the project back, said Bruce Runberg, associate vice chancellor for facilities planning and construction.

The backlog has also delayed renovations to Wilson Library, Davis Library and Carr Building.

Although the state legislature and the Morehead-Cain Foundation contributed a combined $5.7 million to craft design plans, Runberg said it will take another large appropriation from the state legislature to begin construction.

“Hopefully in the next session they will appropriate about $55 million to construct the building,” Runberg said. “But we won’t know that until next August.”

The renovation will update the building’s utilities and correct uneven floor elevations that inhibit the functionality and flow of the building. The building has never seen a significant renovation.

“Building codes are very different than they were when Morehead was built in 1949,” said Todd Boyette, director of Morehead Science Center. “The building will be brought up to current code.”

The renovation also will add an atrium for group orientations, as well as exhibit space for the planetarium.

“Right now, we just don’t have the space, and the space we do have wasn’t designed to be used this way,” Boyette said.

Administrators said they are hoping to keep the building’s character intact through the renovation. Hartman-Cox Architects of Washington, D.C., was chosen to design the renovation because they specialize in historic buildings, said Peter Krawchyk, UNC facilities architectural supervisor.

“Basically it’s an iconic, historic building, so we will keep the exterior the same,” Krawchyk said.

He said the proposed renovation would only obstruct 15 to 20 of the planetarium’s parking spaces and would not affect the sundial.

If the state legislature provides money for the project, Krawchyk said he expects construction to begin in January 2010, with the building reopening in fall 2012.

The planetarium also will be updating its technology by installing a digital projection system in place of the 40-year-old projector currently in use.

“The digital planetarium is current, modern technology,” Boyette said. “Whatever you can render on a computer you can put on the screen.”

The planetarium is developing a private campaign to fund the technology updates. Boyette said he anticipates that these updates, along with new hands-on exhibits, will increase visitors to the planetarium.

“We are most excited that it will enhance the quality of experience that the visitors have,” Boyette said