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Residential Skyscraper With Planetarium Coming To Austin


Urbannizer

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Austin Planetarium partners with company for fundraising

By Amy Deis

Thursday, 20 January 2011

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CENTRAL AUSTIN — The Austin Planetarium has teamed up with SwipeGood to raise money for a planetarium and science museum, set to open in 2014.

SwipeGood is a San Francisco-based company that helps nonprofits raise money. Users sign up and register their credit cards with the company. Any purchases they make are rounded up to the nearest dollar, and the change goes to the affiliated charity of their choice.

"It fit well with us," said marketing coordinator Tyler Brown. "Big investments and big donors take a lot of time."

Austin Planetarium is the first nonprofit in Texas to partner with SwipeGood, Brown said. Other charities and nonprofits associated with SwipeGood include ASPCA, the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford and Invisible Children.

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Austin Planetarium Moves Forward with Development

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AUSTIN -- The Austin Planetarium is moving forward with their plan to build the largest planetarium in Texas. The nonprofit has submitted a proposal to the Texas Facilities Commission to build the planetarium on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Congress Avenue, where there is currently a state parking lot.

The proposed location would create a museum district in Austin. The planetarium would be across the street from the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum and the Blanton Museum of Art.

The proposed 157,000 square foot facility will include the planetarium, an interactive science museum and a technology center showcasing Texas innovations.

However, the facility will include more than just a museum and planetarium. A 47 story residential tower, restaurants, retail space and more than 1,000 underground parking spaces are also part of the proposal.

The total cost is estimated at $240 million. Only $95 million would be used for the science and technology museum.

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http://www.kvue.com/...-154556155.html

Edited by Urbannizer
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Will this make it the tallest building in Austin.

So close to 50, you would think, why not, add 3 more floors.

No, The Austonian is Austin's tallest at 56 floors but this tower will rival the Austonian in height though unless they add more to the tower will only make it the second tallest in the city. There are other towers that are as tall and or taller in the works so it may be one of the top 5 when all is said and done.

Edited by JDawgATX
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Outstanding. Beautiful. Shows that Austin is certainly forward-thinking and willing to take a few risks with its architecture. To me, this is one of the most exciting projects in the country. I wish Houston would learn a thing or two from projects like this :)

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The largest planetarium in Texas? In Austin?? Hrm...

As the supposed Space City when will Houston have the largest planetarium in Texas? How about the U.S.? It's a shame we don't. Ugh.

Any bets on when Austin will surpass Houston as the largest city in Texas?

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The largest planetarium in Texas? In Austin?? Hrm...

As the supposed Space City when will Houston have the largest planetarium in Texas? How about the U.S.? It's a shame we don't. Ugh.

Any bets on when Austin will surpass Houston as the largest city in Texas?

Seriously - is this something to get upset about? I don't think we have the largest pecan either - and they grow pretty well around here.

This reminds me last year when we were in Hong Kong. We took the nong ping cable car to the big buddha. In the tourist area there - there were giant signs advertising the "First and biggest cable car musuem in the world!!" which consisted of 6-8 old cable cars - a couple from the US, a couple for Europe. Thank goodness it was free.

Also they were hysterically promoting their new entertainment - also the "First Time Ever Performed - Drumpoline Show!" We thought it might be some sort of acrobatic show using trampolines as drums - possibly entertaining. Boy were we wrong. It was a handful of 16-year olds lip-syncing and pretend-playing guitars to horrible Cantopop while jumping up and down on trampolines. It was actually quite terrifying.

The takeaway is - being the biggest/first in something does not necessarily mean you won't be the lamest.

And I doubt Austin will surpass Houston in any of our lifetimes. Theirs NIMBY's make the Ashby crowd look like amateurs, Austin's infrastructure sucks and has no plans for getting significantly better, their water woes make Houston's look insignificant, and too much of their land is unusable - either due to geography or restrictions - thus driving up the cost of the remaining land.

Economy-wise people always say Houston is a one-dimensional economy (energy) - in fact Houston has the medical sector, the port, and a large manufacuring base all to cushion any future downturns. Austin truly is a two-dimensional economy (government/university and high-tech) which gives them a lot less slack in any kind of downturn in one of their economic bases.

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Seriously - is this something to get upset about? I don't think we have the largest pecan either - and they grow pretty well around here.

This reminds me last year when we were in Hong Kong. We took the nong ping cable car to the big buddha. In the tourist area there - there were giant signs advertising the "First and biggest cable car musuem in the world!!" which consisted of 6-8 old cable cars - a couple from the US, a couple for Europe. Thank goodness it was free.

Also they were hysterically promoting their new entertainment - also the "First Time Ever Performed - Drumpoline Show!" We thought it might be some sort of acrobatic show using trampolines as drums - possibly entertaining. Boy were we wrong. It was a handful of 16-year olds lip-syncing and pretend-playing guitars to horrible Cantopop while jumping up and down on trampolines. It was actually quite terrifying.

The takeaway is - being the biggest/first in something does not necessarily mean you won't be the lamest.

And I doubt Austin will surpass Houston in any of our lifetimes. Theirs NIMBY's make the Ashby crowd look like amateurs, Austin's infrastructure sucks and has no plans for getting significantly better, their water woes make Houston's look insignificant, and too much of their land is unusable - either due to geography or restrictions - thus driving up the cost of the remaining land.

Economy-wise people always say Houston is a one-dimensional economy (energy) - in fact Houston has the medical sector, the port, and a large manufacuring base all to cushion any future downturns. Austin truly is a two-dimensional economy (government/university and high-tech) which gives them a lot less slack in any kind of downturn in one of their economic bases.

Good points. Im not upset. In fact I'm happy that Austin is getting this tower/planetarium. What annoys me is that one would expect Space City to have the largest planetarium in the US. Instead Houston has the lame Space Center Houston... ugh. Very counter-intuitive.

And I didnt know they have level 10 NIMBYs. :P But cool that they're getting this tower though.

Has anyone in this thread ever been inside a planetarium?

Yes.

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