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July 29, 2011 in City
‘Science in the hands of kids’
Delays in construction prompt launch of portable technology exhibit
Jessica Ohlig and her daughter A’Maya Ohlig, 7, of Post Falls, paid a visit to the robot during the STAR Discovery Bus tour in Coeur d’Alene on July 18. Discovery Technology’s STAR Science Center is set to open in Rathdrum in 2012.
(Full-size photo)
Bus to stop in Liberty Lake
The STAR Discovery Bus, a mobile version of the planned STAR Science Center in Rathdrum, will stop at Liberty Lake Days this weekend from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The bus features state-of-the-art sound and visual technology, a robotics work station and on-board science exhibits. For a full schedule of its stops, visit discovertechnology.org/Bus.html.
A proposed science center near Rathdrum featuring hands-on science and technology is on a roll.
After Kootenai County’s land-use permit process delayed the expected start of construction on the center, nonprofit Discover Technology launched the Discovery Bus Tour this month.
Stopping at festivals, fairs and schools in the region, the 45-foot mobile science center is giving audiences a taste of the 20,000-square-foot Science, Technology and Research (STAR) facility.
“The permit process was taking a long time, and we wanted to get science in the hands of kids sooner,” said Dennis Kimberling, education director for the nonprofit. “(The bus) helps educate people about what we are about.”
The $3 million STAR center – to be built on land owned by Paul and Lorna Finman just north of Rathdrum on Highway 41 and Willadsen Road – is expected to open in fall 2012, a year later than originally planned.
At the first hearing with planning officials in 2010, residents voiced concerns about the project. Those included an increase in traffic, Kimberling said. The delays in the project have added $700,000 in construction costs, Lorna Finman said.
“People just didn’t understand what we were doing,” Kimberling said. “Were we building a school? Were we doing scientific testing?”
Planning officials were expected to sign a conditional-use permit, which was approved by county commissioners earlier this month, on Thursday, giving the nod to move forward, an assistant with the Planning Commission said.
“We expect to start digging in August,” Lorna Finman said.
The Finmans created Discover Technology, formerly known as the North Idaho Discovery Association, several years ago to promote science and technology education in the region. The Finmans own LCF Enterprises, a Post Falls company that makes amplifiers used by the military as jamming devices.
Discover sponsors hundreds of robotics teams and provides training for teachers, equipment, and scholarships.
They announced plans in 2009 to privately fund and build the science center, featuring interactive exhibits, science labs and opportunities for students to explore robotics, molecular biology, chemistry, alternative energy and mining and agricultural technology.
“In the Northwest there are several hands-on science centers but ours is unique in that it combines the research element with the museum feel,” said Kimberling, who also teaches gifted and talented students at Lakeland Middle School and advises the robotics team there.
Kimberling said labs at the STAR center will be used by researchers, then be on display for area students to come and observe.
The Finmans have donated most of the funds for the STAR project, including the land. The delays and subsequent cost increases may cause some features to be eliminated, including a geothermal ground heating system, Finman said.
“Either way, it won’t stop the building from coming,” Finman said. “We can add features later.”
She said they grew impatient waiting for the building process to begin and looked into a mobile science unit. The bus, which cost about $60,000, is free to sponsors and schools who want it to visit, she said.
With dwindling school budgets and no money for field trips, the Discovery Bus brings hands-on math, science and technology to students.
Some of the same interactive labs the science center will provide are available on the bus, including how to use an iPod to program a robot.
“We’ll get the science center rolling with a big bang,” Kimberling said. “And then roll on into classrooms.”
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oneanddone on July 29 at 4:23 a.m.
Color me cynical. Why are they doing this? If it’s altruism why do it in a rural area? How long before they start whining about wanting taxpayer money? All that money would be far better spent on their idea of the bus, bringing science to kids at the school. What’s the catch?
polistra on July 29 at 6:18 a.m.
Agreed. Sounds like a subsidy-gathering project.
Also a techy quibble: an amplifier can’t be used as a jammer. Jammers, like all transmitters, include stages of amplification, but that doesn’t make them amplifiers.
mikeln on July 29 at 8:00 a.m.
We need science in schools, lots of science, it is the future of mankind. It is the surest way to solve the problems we are facing today. This science center is a good start and should be spread across the land so as many young people as possible can take advantage of it.
zelda on July 29 at 9:35 a.m.
I can’t find this organization under any of its various names on CharityNavigator. They are accepting donations but nothing on the donations page says it’s a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
logjammerz on July 29 at 10:07 a.m.
Pretty interesting that the spin is that Kootenai County delayed the anticipated ground breaking. Seems the applicants refused to embrace the Conditional Use process and the advice of the agencies they queried in preparing their application. This is what really caused the delay and the postponement of several of the scheduled hearings by the applicants. Seems they wanted the pubic and agencies to just get out of their way and let them build. Pretty common attitude, but is it really how we want to develop our community? To say the County delayed them seems inaccurate.
zelda on July 29 at 10:21 a.m.
On their website, they’re accepting “sponsorship” donations at various levels (sort of like a sporting event), but not donations per se, in the way that I think of donations. It’s all through PayPal.
tarynahecker on July 29 at 10:44 a.m.
Zelda Discover Technology was founded and has its nonprofit status as the North Idaho Discovery Association.
Oneanddone - Discover Technology has been privately funded to the tune of about $3 million by the founders, Paul and Lorna Finman. The sponsorship drive is a way to help fund finishing touches for the science center along with outreach via the Discovery Bus and ongoing programs. With the exception of our robotics summer camps, the programs are available free of charge.
There is no catch. The Finmans are generous individuals and members of the North Idaho community who have a broad vision for increasing opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math, along with robotics and agricultural technology.
Rathdrum might be “rural,” but it is in fact becoming a hotbed for technology and science education through the STAR Science Center, the Kootenai Technical Education Campus and the STEM Charter Academy.
Visit www.discovertechnology.org for more or email taryn@discovertechnology.org
greenlibertarian on July 29 at 12:04 p.m.
Finman is a crackpot. Surprising that a former journalist now photog hasn’t looked into that nut’s background.
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2008/jul/10/2-school-trustees-trade-angry-e-mails/#ixzz1TWjWrXfG
- vcstar.com
zelda on July 29 at 5:07 p.m.
If it’s a 501(c)(4), it doesn’t have to disclose its donors because it’s primarily an advocacy nonprofit. People who are considering contributions should get a copy of this outfit’s Form 990.
Contributions may not be tax deductible.
Surprising that this wound up on the front page of the S-R. But, come to think of it, so did Niagara Falls, N.Y.