Space Center throws quinceañera to celebrate 15 years

Photo by Alex Dominguez

DOWNEY — It was a party 15 years in the making as the Columbia Memorial Space Center celebrated its anniversary quinceañera-style over the weekend.

It’s been 15 years since Downey’s space and science museum – which serves as the official memorial to the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster in 2003 – first opened its doors in 2009.

To celebrate, the CMSC was adorned with festive decorations and held various activities, which included pinatas, special arts and crafts, music and dancing, food trucks, and lowriders.

CMSC Executive Director Ben Dickow, who has led the space center for 10 years, said it was a “new stage of life” for the museum.

“It’s a celebration, and that’s what quinceañera’s are all about,” said Dickow. “Quinceaneras are about coming out in a new stage of life. With the shuttle move last week, that’s kind of where we’re at; we’re at this new inflection point into the future.

“Five years from now for our 20th birthday, this place is going to be completely different.”

Dickow was highly complementary of his, attributing the center’s success to their dedication. He said “it’s what we’ve been working for.”

“It’s real testament to the staff and what they’ve been able to do to get us to this point,” said Dickow. “The only reason why we’re able to do this is because of all the progress we’ve made in the last 10 years, and that’s because of the staff. No one person can do it on their own.

“We’ve been knocking it out of the park for ten years with our programs, with making headway in Southern California to be a real leader in STEM education, and it’s gotten noticed and it’s gotten people to support us. Now, we’re launching to the next phase.”

That next phase is largely to include the ambitious expansion project, which includes the restoration and display of the space shuttle mock-up Inspiration, which was moved to its temporary resting spot just a week ago.

“We have to refurb our space shuttle. We’ve got to build the building, get that thing up,” said Dickow. “The immediate next step, besides just starting the renovation of the shuttle, we’re going to start getting more detail about the exhibit plan in the new building; how that’s all going to work with the shuttle experience, and stuff like that.”

Former Mayor Mario Guerra, who was mayor at the time of the museum’s opening, said that it had “exceeded his wildest expectations.”

“When you see the hundreds of thousands of kids that have come through here, that have been enticed for engineering, for mathematics, for robotics, that’s what it’s all about,” said Guerra. “We knew that this was going to be something special.”