Facilities

Located on the top of Talcott Mountain in Avon, CT, we command a breathtaking view of 5,000 square miles, which reaches beyond the borders of the state. We are able to survey the geography and geology, observe the weather and have an unobstructed view of the celestial sphere.

 

From the top of the mountain we have constructed a scale model of the solar system which begins with the sun, our 18' diameter radar dome, and with the planets arranged from Mercury on the rooftop of the Student Technology Center to Pluto fifteen miles away, on top of Otis Elevator Tower in Bristol.

 

We have twenty acres of woodland featuring the unique ecology of a mountaintop where we observe annual hawk migrations, seasonal changes and a variety of microhabitats.

 

Our campus is made up of a series of buildings that take advantage of solar exposure to supplement our energy needs and are equipped with hands-on laboratories and the latest technologies, allowing us to teach with the very things we teach about. 

 

This includes: 

  • Observatories, equipped with telescopes including an automated 16” Mead and more than a dozen other scopes of all size and dimension. 
  • Our planetarium is the largest teaching planetarium in the state. It seats 98 and serves as a multimedia theater providing views of the night sky, large screen viewing and special effects.
  • State-of-the-art computer labs, 3-D printers and Makerspace allow us to present fully-integrated learning opportunities.
  • A weather lab where we simulate snowflakes, lightning, tornadoes and record live weather from our instrumentation and cameras atop the ridge.

 

The following facilities were dedicated to some of our distinguished alumni and benefactors:

 

THE ALAN L. BEAN HYPOSPHERIUM is our multi-media tilted-dome planetarium, and at 44 feet is the largest “true” planetarium in the state. Since 1990 it has provided a rich teaching environment for astronomy and much more. Alan Bean, fourth man to walk on the moon, has been a supporter of and frequent visitor to Talcott Mountain Science Center. He has also been a featured speaker on numerous occasions for Talcott's "On the Shoulders of Giants" lecture series.

 

THE ARNOLD L. CHASE STUDENT COMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY CENTER was dedicated in 1997 and provided a quantum leap in production possibilities at Talcott. It has been the cornerstone of our distance learning program through the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Education.  Arnold Chase has been a strong supporter and board member who has been instrumental in development of these facilities.

 

THE DR. ALVIN B. LIFTIG CONFERENCE ROOM was dedicated to Talcott founder “Al” Liftig, who spearheaded efforts to establish TMSC. As a member of the Avon Board of Education and later as a TMSC Board member, giving generously of his time and effort to making sure the “impossible dream” of Talcott became a reality.  

  

THE STEVE PERLMAN HYPERMEDIA LIBRARY & CONFERENCE CENTER was dedicated in 1998 to Steve Perlman, TMSC alumnus and West Hartford native. Steve started at an early age at Talcott, and was instrumental in several major research projects here at Talcott, providing groundbreaking technology dating back to the 1970s. He contributed to major advances at Coleco, Atari, Apple and founded WebTV, Moxi, Rearden Labs, MOVA video production and the OnLive gaming platform. Steve is Talcott’s biggest benefactor, contributing $1 Million of his profits from WebTV to support our programs. The HyperMedia library provides research space and content creation on iMac computers and iPads, and houses the Robotics labs for use in FIRST® and Trinity College contests.