Arlington’s David M. Brown Planetarium, whose attempts to raise $402,000 to avoid being closed down are frequently noted in our Look Up column, got some good New Year’s news: they recently received a $100,000 donation. The Washington Post reports that the six-figure donation by former Arlington School Board Chairman Preston Caruthers pushes the Friends of Arlington over their year-end goal of $240,000.

Arlington Superintendent Patrick Murphy has proposed closing the facility and transforming it into a school classroom. The Friends still need to raise approximately $162,000 to replace the facility’s dome, star projector and perform other upgrades to the forty-plus-year-old building.