Regents approve Indigenous studies center, planetarium at 51��

Marmian Grimes
907-474-7902
Feb. 23, 2024

an artist's rendering of brown building with large glass windows — Drawing by Bettisworth North
An artist's rendering shows the exterior of the planned Troth Yeddha' Indigenous Studies Center.

The University of Alaska Board of Regents on Friday approved two projects that will reshape the 51�� Troth Yeddha' Campus.
In a unanimous vote, regents approved schematic designs for the $53 million Troth Yeddha’ Indigenous Studies Center and an $8.3 million planetarium addition at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. The vote allows 51�� to move forward with both projects.

The Indigenous studies center will be built between the museum and the Reichardt Building on 51��’s Troth Yeddha’ Campus in Fairbanks. The 40,300-square-foot building will house academic and research units within 51��’s College of Rural and Community Development, as well as Rural Student Services and the Rural Alaska Honors Institute.

"The Troth Yeddha’ Indigenous Studies Center is essential to our continued growth as an R-1 [research] institution and for positioning ourselves as a destination university with cultural, academic and research distinction," said Charlene Stern, 51��’s vice chancellor for rural, community and Native education, during a board subcommittee meeting. "Troth isn’t just a project to help 51�� achieve these goals; it is the project."

Funding for the center will come from a combination of private and corporate gifts, foundation grants and public sources. Regents approved $9 million in expenditures, which will allow 51�� to complete the design of the center and begin site preparation this year. In the meantime, 51�� will continue to raise the additional funds to complete the project. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2025.

A black and white drawing of the museum on the left side of the drawing — Drawing by BDS Architects
The planned planetarium is slated for construction on the west side of the University of Alaska Museum of the North. In this drawing, it is pictured on the far left.

Construction of the planetarium is slated to begin this spring. When it opens in fall 2025, the 5,700-square-foot addition to the west end of the museum will house a 65-seat planetarium under a 10-meter dome. A planetarium has been part of the vision for the museum since it opened in 1980 and also a longtime goal of the 51�� Geophysical Institute.

"The planetarium is an incredibly successful product of a collaboration and alignment of goals with the Geophysical Institute, the Museum of the North and an incredibly generous donor who is very interested in helping their community," said museum director Pat Druckenmiller. The project is primarily funded by a $7.4 million anonymous private donation.

The planetarium will be a draw for visitors to Fairbanks and has the potential to be a boon for tourism in Alaska and the Interior, Druckenmiller said. "For Alaskans, I think it will be particularly transformative, especially for K-12 students, who I think will be inspired by all the really cool science that happens here at the university."

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NOTE TO EDITORS: Drawings of both the Troth Yeddha’ Indigenous Studies Center and the planetarium are available for download from the .

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