Arecibo Radio Telescope - Searching For Signs of Tourism

It's good to be in construction!

Puerto Rico plans to build a hotel and a planetarium as part of a $50 million project to attract more visitors to the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope, the Associated Press reports

It is the first major announcement from the new managing consortium for the Arecibo Observatory, which fought budget cuts last year that could have forced its closure.

The planetarium would be built within two years and the hotel within five years, Puerto Rico’s Metropolitan University said. The school helps run the observatory with California-based SRI International, a nonprofit research group, and the Universities Space Research Association, a Maryland-based nonprofit founded under the National Academy of Sciences.

The plan is to convert an onsite cafeteria and staff housing into a hotel and restaurant to help promote the observatory as an educational tourism niche in the Caribbean, according to Puerto Rico’s tourism office.

Funding will come from several government agencies and public universities.

Analysis

Driving the winding roads up into the Arecibo mountains to not find parking and then walking the rest of the way is sooooo worth the 15 minutes to see everything there is to see. $50 million?

Over the years I've come to learn that there is a lot of money to be made in construction here in Puerto Rico. Not nearly as much as actually maintaining them, which explains the history of the Villa Panamericana. Built to house athletes for the 1979 Pan American games hosted by Puerto Rico. In less than 20 years, the Villa Panamericana were abandoned, became a haven for the homeless, and finally imploded. Here is a cool video of the fruits of constructing in Puerto Rico: