Closed since 2018, Jackson's planetarium is finally being worked on. See details

Construction on the Russell C. Davis Planetarium is expected to be finished by July 2025.

The announcement was made Thursday by Mike Williams, Jackson's deputy director of the Department of Human and Cultural Services; Kane Ditto, former mayor of Jackson; and a board member of the nonprofit Friends of the Russell C. Davis Planetarium Inc.

The nonprofit has been instrumental in raising money for renovations for the planetarium, which has a total budget of $21 million. Part of the fundraising was selling naming rights for a number of the planetarium exhibits, Williams said. For the city to use the money raised from the nonprofit, it first had to be approved by the Jackson City Council.

In a special meeting Thursday, council members unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding between the city and the nonprofit to accept the money and the naming rights.

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"Part of the fundraising was giving naming rights to the donors," Williams said. "The interface between these public entities and the city had to be codified in this (memorandum of understanding) agreement that reflects the guidelines by which we'll do the naming rights and accept the money."

News reports have been circulating that the Hinds County Board of Supervisors might back out of their agreement to supply $1.5 million for the project.

Ditto and Williams denied that, saying the supervisors will be approving the funds at their next meeting.

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The city has approved $7 million for the project, Ditto said, and the state has approved $2 million. Private donors have also contributed a significant amount of dollars for the project.

Since 2018, plans to renovate the planetarium, which first opened in 1979, have been discussed after the facility was forced to close due to a leaky roof that was damaged after a storm. Renovations were first announced in 2020 but had to be pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Once renovations are complete, the planetarium will feature multiple exhibits explaining the history and future of space, how Mississippi has contributed to the space frontier and an atrium lobby.

It will also feature the Ronald McNair space theater where guests can give talks. McNair was an astronaut who trained to become the world’s first orbital cinematographer with his work on the award-winning documentary, “The Space Shuttle: An American Odyssey.” One of the two lenses McNair used in space is still in the planetarium's artifact storage awaiting display. McNair died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson MS planetarium construction set to finish in 2025