DOWNEY - Changes at the Columbia Memorial Space Center continue as the city approved plans Tuesday for a "multimedia technology enhancement project" using a $700,000 grant from NASA.The first phase of the project calls for the installation of a 9-screen media wall on the space center's first floor and an upgrade to the theater on the second floor. The city set aside $168,000 for the first phase, including nearly $84,000 in equipment costs. According to Scott Pomrehn, an assistant deputy city manager who was put in charge of the space center last month after executive director Jon Betthauser was fired, the planned upgrades will "enhance the use of state-of-the-art multimedia technology to better communicate to visitors of the center the very dynamic nature of scientific knowledge." "Providing the interactive experience to excite and motivate this future generation is the goal of this project," he said. Western Audio Visual was selected to install the audio/visual components. They are the same company that installed the video recording equipment inside the council chambers, and have completed similar projects in several local communities, Pomrehn wrote in a staff report.

********** Published: July 15, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 13