Why was the planetarium named after the creator of Star Trek in 2001?
Tim Holt, director of instructional services at EPISD, stuck his head in the door here one day and said, “Do you know that Gene Roddenberry was born in El Paso?” And my mouth dropped open. Gene Roddenberry was born here in El Paso? I hadn’t even seen a street named after him. I contacted Paramount Studios and they put me in touch with Majel Barrett Roddenberry, his widow, and she gave me the okay. They put me in touch with Eugene Roddenberry Jr. and he was very interested in the idea of naming the planetarium after his father. Next thing I knew, they wanted to hold a “Star Trek” convention here in El Paso. We kicked off the convention here and held it at the Bassett Center. So for our dedication ceremony we had the son here, Marina Sirtis and Michael Dorn, who played Counselor Troi and Worf in “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” We also had Ethan Phillips and Robert Picardo, who played Neelix and the Hologram Doctor in “Star Trek: Voyager.” It ended up being really big. They were actuall
