ORANGE BEACH, Ala. -- Thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Coastal Baldwin Educational Enrichment Foundation, the Sand, Sea and Stars Museum at Orange Beach Elementary will open to the general public for the first time this summer.

For the week of July 16-20 the museum will feature an array of speakers covering a variety of topics pertaining to the Alabama Gulf Coast.

According to museum Director Lisa Allen there will be a series of special lecturers during the week.

“We’ll have speakers on fishing, boating safety, dolphins, birds and we can’t forget about the sea turtles,” she said. “We’ve also made arrangements for some special movies to be shown in the media room – one entitled Enchanted Reef and another one called Sea Monsters.”

Admission is free, but children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

“I think this is a wonderful opportunity,” Allen said. “We’re really excited. We’ve wanted to do this from the beginning, but just needed permission and funding.”

Officials with the Coastal Baldwin Educational Enrichment Foundations made the announcement Friday morning at the museum with several CBEE and BP representatives on hand.

Sea, Sand, and Stars has been made possible through generous contributions from Brett-Robinson Construction, the City of Orange Beach and the Baldwin County Board of Education.

“The only problem with the facility is that up to now, tours are restricted to school groups, shutting out most members of the general public from experiencing the awesome exhibits and technology,” Coastal Baldwin Educational Enrichment Foundation, Inc. Chairman Yolanda Devine Johnson said. “This fantastic facility has been a hit with schoolchildren from across the region, and now another generous donation, administered by CBEE, will allow the general public a chance to experience what their children and grandchildren have experienced for the past five years.”

On July 16 state biologist Roger Clay will talk about coastal birds and Genevieve Belou of the Alabama Coastal Foundation, will talk about coastal conservation

The July 17 speakers will Jessica Powell of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration to talk about dolphins and hurricanes.

Mike Reynolds of Share the Beach will talk about protecting loggerhead sea turtles on July 18 and Ken Drake of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary will speak on boating safety.

On July 19 Auburn University researcher Mark Hainds will have a presentation on the Longleaf Alliance and Gary Finch of :”Gary Finch Outdoors” will talk about fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.

On the final day, July 20, Gulf State Park Naturalist Kelly Reitz will talk about the return of the bald eagle to coastal Alabama. Also on the last day, Anita Salinas and Susan Clement of the Environmental Studies Center in Mobile will present the Raptor Road Show.

More than a decade ago the seeds were planted for a hands-on facility for island school students to learn about our natural resources in the area. The idea soon drew the interest of several prominent business and civic leaders.

With their help, the Sea, Sand and Stars interactive facility became a reality.  

The facility features a huge, beautiful 5,800 gallon aquarium with a large variety of fish. In addition, the facility has a 38 seat planetarium with a Digitarium Alpha II Projector, technology used in the best planetariums across the world. The facility is equipped to tap into the Hubble Telescope and allows visitors a real-time look through this amazing window into space. 

Sea, Sand, and Stars features a computer technology room, complete with 30 computer work stations. Just around the corner a laboratory allows students to get a closer look at marine life. Outside, an 800 ft. boardwalk leads to four large outdoor gazebo classrooms where students learn about birds, plants, amphibians, and insects. In partnership with WKRG TV, a weather station, complete with measuring and monitoring technology, allows students to learn meteorology and then report the weather in front of an actual television news set.

After its opening in November 2007, the facility was a hit - drawing students not just from Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, but from all across Baldwin County. Eventually, the center began to host students from across the region, including Mobile County and Escambia County in Alabama, and Escambia County Florida. Currently the facility hosts more than 4,000 students per year.

Johnson said she is extremely pleased that CBEE played a small, but vital, role in opening the facility to the public. “Under current laws and guidelines, a business, individual or other entity is unable to earmark a donation to public school systems in Alabama,” she said. “However, through educational foundations like CBEE, benefactors are able to donate the money to us, and we are then able to funnel it to the organizations or projects the donor desires.”

 While this is the first time the general public will be able to experience Sea, Sand and Stars facility, Allen said she is working to do more. “We’re hoping this will be a recurring event each summer,” Allen said. “We just need the funding.”

The CBEE Foundation has awarded scholarships to graduating seniors from Gulf Shores High School and grants to teachers in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores public schools since 1999. Anyone who is interested in making a difference in our schools is welcome to become a part of CBEE.