A consortium led by the University of Central Florida won a five-year, $20.15-million contract to take over management of the iconic Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, a mammoth radio telescope built into a limestone sinkhole that has been used for important astronomical discoveries — and as a setting for the James Bond movie GoldenEye.
The deal, negotiated with the National Science Foundation, kicked in April 1. The UCF-led team also includes the Universidad Metropolitana in San Juan and Oviedo-based Yang Enterprises, an architectural, engineering and maintenance firm founded by a UCF alum and adjunct professor. The 54-year-old observatory has been used by scientists around the world. Two physicists won a Nobel Prize after using the telescope to test Einstein’s theory of gravitational waves and providing the first evidence for the existence of such waves.
“UCF’s oversight of this crucial resource further solidifies our university as a leader in space-related research,” says UCF President John Hitt. “The observatory will provide a valuable new dimension to space science at UCF while creating more academic opportunities for students and faculty at UCF, in Puerto Rico and beyond. This agreement, made possible through easpartnerships, also ensures that the observatory will continue to make significant contributions to space science and mankind.”
Hurricane Maria damaged the observatory when it roared ashore in Puerto Rico in September, but electricity was restored in December, and Arecibo is operational again. The UCF consortium says it will pay for observatory operations by offering short-term partnerships for telescope use, fundraising, bringing in more management partners and organizing tourism programs around the facility.
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BUSINESS Briefs for Central Florida
KISSIMMEE — BRIDG, the organization that runs an advanced manufacturing research center for smart sensors, announced partnerships with industrial giant Siemens and Norfolk, Va.-based Face International, which makes power cells and other energy- harvesting devices.
LAKE BUENA VISTA — Walt Disney World plans to expand its use of variable ticket pricing, charging higher prices during peak periods of the year in hopes of squeezing more revenue out of visitors while also easing congestion.
LAKE COUNTY — Voters will decide this fall whether to raise the county gas tax by five cents to fund road improvements.
LAKE MARY — Accesso Technology Group, which provides e-commerce and other technology to amusement parks, museums and other facilities, struck a deal with the Henry Ford Health System to develop a way to integrate all aspects of a patient’s care and treatment in a platform accessible on the patient’s cellphone.
MELBOURNE — Harris Corp. plans to give its 17,000 non-executive employees — about 6,000 in Florida — stock bonuses with a current market value of $1,470 each, paying for the bonuses with a portion of its tax savings under the new federal tax reform package.
ORANGE COUNTY — Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet revived a proposed 2,000-home development dubbed The Grow in a rural part of the county east of the Econlockhatchee River, overturning an administrative judge’s ruling. Florida Hospital plans to build two more stand-alone emergency rooms, one in the east county community of Waterford Lakes and another in Oviedo in Seminole County.
ORLANDO — Ford Kiene, head of alcohol distributor City Beverages, donated a 132-year-old, two-story building in downtown Orlando to the city with the condition that it be used as an arts and cultural facility for at least 20 years. The University of Central Florida paid retiring President John Hitt a retention bonus of $491,000, boosting his compensation for the 2016-17 school year to nearly $1.3 million. UCF has pitched a plan to take over the failing campus of the Sanford Burnham Prebys research institute in Lake Nona’s Medical City complex. South Florida-based Dezer Development bought the closed Artegon Marketplace mall in the city’s International Drive tourist corridor for $23.7 million, with plans to convert the property into an entertainment complex. SeaWorld Orlando began offering free admission to all children ages 5 and younger, though it will require advance online registration. Developers Digvijay “Danny” Gaekwad and Rob Yeager bought the Church Street Exchange building and some surrounding downtown property for $14.2 million.
Tavistock Development launched a hotel division, Tavistock Hotel Collection, which will begin with a performance- and wellness-themed resort and a 16-story hotel, both in its Lake Nona development.
PORT CANAVERAL — Port leaders approved construction of a multipurpose cargo berth, driven by a growing cargo business that includes commercial spacecraft components. The new berth will be capable of handling an 850-foot ship and is expected to be complete by mid-2019. The port also hosted its first post- Panamax vessel when MOL’s 125-foot beam Brooklands ship unloaded 315 new vehicles from Mexico.
SEMINOLE COUNTY — Commissioners enacted an ordinance limiting pet shops to selling only dogs and cats acquired from shelters or rescue groups.
VOLUSIA COUNTY — The median monthly rent in the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach market jumped 6.9% in 2017, from $1,310 to $1,400, the sixth-sharpest one-year increase in the nation, according to a study by real estate website Trulia.
PLAYERS
UCF’s board of trustees named Provost Dale Whittaker its next president, succeeding John Hitt, who is retiring this summer after 26 years as president. SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby stepped down after the theme park company posted another year of declining attendance. Manby had been CEO for just under three years. John Reilly, who had been the company’s chief parks operations officer, was named interim CEO. SeaWorld Chief Creative Officer Anthony Esparza, whom Manby brought into SeaWorld, also stepped down. Merritt Islandbased Joi Scientific, a hydrogen energy company, appointed Stefan Sjostrom to the new position of president/ international. Sjostrom, who will be based in Singapore, previously led public-sector activities in Asia and Western Europe for Microsoft.
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