Work is about to start on the US$5.4m (€4.9m, £3.6m) redevelopment of a planetarium in California, with plans to revolutionise the 40-year-old facility at the West Valley College (WVC) in Saratoga.

Funded via a US$1.5m (€1.4m, £1m) government grant in addition to a US$3.9m (€3.5m, £2.5m) donation from the Jean and E. Floyd Kvamme Foundation, the planetarium is to undergo a complete overhaul of facilities, bringing it up to modern standards.

"We're hoping the planetarium will interest a lot of kids," said E. Floyd Kvamme, who in 2001 was named then President George Bush's co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), and who in the 1980s operated as executive vice president of sales and marketing for Apple.

"We hope it can interest students in things scientific that they might not think they'd be interested in. We're hoping it will open doors for them."

The renovated facility will be renamed the Jean and E. Floyd Kvamme Planetarium, and will feature a new 12.5m (41ft) dome using a hybrid-optical and mechanical digital projection system, an exhibition space and theater seating.

The donation also includes funding to support ongoing programmes and exhibits at the planetarium, which is open to both students and the local community – something not possible with the existing facility.

A groundbreaking ceremony is set for 18 December, with the planetarium setting a reopening date of late 2017.