The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center will reopen its museum, planetarium, Science Store and the Countdown Café to the public on Wednesday, July 1.
Summer hours will be Wednesday through Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the end of August.
Planetarium shows in the Discovery Center’s includ: Take Flight! at 11:30 a.m., Dawn of the Space Age at 1 p.m. and Tonight’s Sky at 2:30 p.m.
Facility rentals for meetings, weddings and other events are also available beginning July 1.
For all visitors except those under age 3, masks are required; a mask will be provided if necessary.
Visitors are encouraged to purchase admission and planetarium show tickets through the Discovery Center website, starhop.com; all over-the-counter sales will be by payment card (debit or credit) or check, no cash transactions.
The Discovery Center will be closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and on the 4th of July.
The number of new cases remains low, with just 15 reported Tuesday, although the state also reported the first new deaths this week.
Four deaths were reported, all in people over age 60 in Hillsborough County, bringing the total to 343, or 6% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Four hospitalizations were also reported. Since monitoring began in March, 10% of COVID-19 cases in the state have required hospitalization.
On Tuesday, Gov. Chris Sununu announced an additional $6 million in funding from the CARES act budget for mental health programs and substance use disorder programs. This funding is meant to counteract the barriers to treatment many have faced during the pandemic.
He will be working with the Department of Health and Human Services in the coming week to determine exactly where the funding will go. $7 million will also go towards local and state services for veterans.
A bill supported by a group of U.S. senators, including Jeanne Shaheen, would help electricians, HVAC technicians, and other workers in the energy efficiency contractor industry during and after the coronavirus pandemic.
The bill would help the energy efficiency sector retain jobs and invest in training to create new opportunities in the workforce, Shaheen, a Democrat, said in a statement Wednesday. It would make available grants to allow businesses to rehire and reinvest in their employees. It also would create rebates for homeowners to invest in energy efficiency improvements.
It’s called the “Hope for Homes Act of 2020.”
Shaheen noted the energy efficiency industry – which prior to the pandemic employed more than 2.3 million Americans – has been hit hard by the pandemic, shedding more than 400,000 jobs.