Nevada air, space center facing its challenges

Construction of the Nevada Air & Space Educational Center in Boulder City is running behind schedule but that's not keeping the center's foundation from providing children with a space experience.

Foundation representatives are keeping their commitment to space by sending twenty to twenty-five students each month to the AlliedSignal Challenger Learning Center in Carson, Calif.

Twenty-three children selected by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas were flown last month to California to tour the Learning Center and nearby Boeing Aerospace plant.

On Tuesday another group selected by a local aviators group will visit the center and the Hughes Space Communications Co. in El Segundo, Calif.

"We wanted to make an impact within a year so we didn't lose sight of what we're trying to do," Scott Fisher, president of the Fisher Museum Foundation, said. "We felt this was a good avenue. It takes more energy, but this way people will know we're serious."

The Nevada Air & Space Educational Center, designed to generate math and science interest among students in Clark County, is under construction on 42 acres at the old Boulder City Airport.

The Fisher Space Pen Co. of Boulder City organized the project in August 1998 by forming the nonprofit organization and applying for grants.

Once complete the center will feature a Challenger Learning Center -- one of several interactive aerospace museums named for the ill-fated space shuttle that exploded in 1986 -- a space camp and a planetarium.

However, funds aren't coming in as quickly as anticipated, setting the project behind schedule. "We've applied to many foundations but found there's not much availability," Fisher said.

Construction alone will cost about $3.9 million, he said. The entire center will cost between $28 million and $30 million.

The organization plans to stay nonprofit, but is looking at the project from a business angle by using fund-raisers and business partnerships to continue as a self-supporting entity.

The project's first phase -- the Space Museum -- is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Fisher said. Artifacts have been collected, including an indefinite loan of the original mock NASA Orbiter that was used to train astronauts.

The Challenger Learning Center, scheduled to be complete in August 2000, won't be finished for another 1 1/2 to 2 years, Fisher said.

Meanwhile the organization is negotiating with National Airlines, which is sponsoring the first three trips, to sponsor the flights until the center is complete.

The Nevada Air & Space Educational Center pays for the visits to the California learning center.

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