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Local Stadium To Open For Eclipse

By Brian Hagen

08/14/2017

(KAIR)--Atchison residents will have one more prime viewing site on the day of the solar eclipse, following a decision of the USD 409 Board of Education.

Superintendent Dr. Susan Myers told MSC News the previous decision to close school for the August 21 eclipse cleared the way to the opening of the Atchison High School Football Stadium as a public viewing site. “As a public service, the Board thought that that would be a good thing, and so we will have that stadium open,” Myers said. “We're not going to charge admission, because we're not canceling school to make any money, that's not our purpose. This is an educational opportunity. We will have concessions available because if people are going to be there they're going to be thirsty, might get a little hungry.”

The School Board approved the plan to open the stadium, located at 1500 West Riley Street, during a special August 9 meeting.

Area emergency planners are estimating more than 1 million visitors to the local northeast Kansas region for the historic solar eclipse. That's due to the local area allowing a clear view and a longer length of total darkness than in other spots across the nation.

In Atchison, the eclipse is estimated to last nearly 2 minutes and 19 seconds starting at 1:06 p.m.

It will be the first total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States since 1979, and the first seen in Kansas in nearly 100 years.

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