{"id":81496,"date":"2026-09-23T19:56:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T23:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=81496"},"modified":"2026-09-28T20:55:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T00:55:47","slug":"florida-southern-colleges-planetarium-reopens-after-22-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/09\/23\/florida-southern-colleges-planetarium-reopens-after-22-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Southern College’s planetarium reopens after 22 years"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by FSC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After being non-operational since 2004, the Miller Planetarium<\/strong> at Florida Southern College (FSC) in Lakeland has officially completed a multi-phase restoration and reopens to the public this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located inside the Polk Science Building, it holds a unique distinction in architectural history: it is the only planetarium in the world designed by Frank Lloyd Wright<\/strong>. FSC holds the world’s largest single-site collection of Wright’s architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restoration Highlights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Architectural Authenticity:<\/strong> Exterior and interior preservation work restored the historic textile block structure, terrace roofing, and original theater-in-the-round seating layout while integrating modern insulation and structural reinforcements.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Modern Technology:<\/strong> The space was updated with a new COSM digital projection system, a Bowen acoustic sound package, and updated dynamic lighting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Funding Partners:<\/strong> Restoration was made possible through a mix of private donations, local philanthropic contributions, state grants from the Florida Division of Historical Resources, and federal support via the Save America’s Treasures program.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Visiting & Show Information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Regularly scheduled public programming begins Saturday, September 26, 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Detail<\/strong><\/td>Information<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
    Show Schedule<\/strong><\/td>Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays & Sundays at 3:30 p.m.<\/td><\/tr>
    Experience Duration<\/strong><\/td>60\u201390 minutes (includes a introductory history tour of the Wright-designed space prior to the show)<\/td><\/tr>
    Ticket Pricing<\/strong><\/td>$20<\/strong> general admission | $15<\/strong> per person for families or groups of 4+<\/td><\/tr>
    Departure Point<\/strong><\/td>Check-in and show experiences start at the Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center on campus.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Rotating Shows:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The planetarium will rotate six feature shows monthly, including God, Science, and Our Search for Meaning<\/em> (narrated by Dan Brown), Destination Mars: The New Frontier<\/em>, Cosmic Adventure<\/em>, From Earth to the Universe<\/em>, Oasis in Space<\/em>, and Undiscovered Worlds: The Search Beyond Our Sun<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    After being non-operational since 2004, the Miller Planetarium at Florida Southern College (FSC) in Lakeland has officially completed a multi-phase restoration and reopens to the public this month. Located inside… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDlcL0ZTQy1NaWxsZXItaW1hZ2Uud2VicD9maXQ9NTYxJTJDMzU2JnNzbD0xIiwidHh0IjoiRmxvcmlkYSBTb3V0aGVybiBDb2xsZWdlJiM4MjE3O3MgcGxhbmV0YXJpdW0gcmVvcGVucyBhZnRlciAyMiB5ZWFycyIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.pwiOfF3RVx6pc1pMpOtTgZ8bgHkjIoGVRbNyapKSzGgMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA5XC9pbWFnZXMtMS0xMS53ZWJwIiwidHh0IjoiRmxvcmlkYSBTb3V0aGVybiBDb2xsZWdlJ3MgcGxhbmV0YXJpdW0gcmVvcGVucyBhZnRlciAyMiB5ZWFycyIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.CKxU8K0zKehQvgnjRyCOUKhKhpp_mwCVe67ro64fqvUMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[34],"tags":[17464,247,15661,15160,15179,17461,17462,17463],"class_list":["post-81496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fsc-news","tag-astronomy-shows","tag-florida-southern-college","tag-florida-tourism","tag-frank-lloyd-wright","tag-lakeland-florida","tag-miller-planetarium","tag-planetarium-restoration","tag-polk-science-building"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81496"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82505,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81496\/revisions\/82505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}