City of Pittsburg receives $10K grant to aid with total eclipse planning

PITTSBURG, Texas (KLTV) - The City of Pittsburg will be a hot spot for a total eclipse of the sun in April 2024. The astronomical event will have about three and half minutes of eclipse totality. Therefore, the Simons Foundation awarded the city with a $10,000 grant to help bring the festivities to life.

“We’ll use a lot of it to fund some of the activities that we’ll be doing, science activities, partnering with some of our local businesses in planning events and things,” said City of Pittsburg Promotional Assistant Sandy Thompson.

The grant will also aid in buying viewing glasses, planning for their infrastructure, and more. In addition to this grant, the city says it is estimating to spend roughly around $25,000 on the big event.

But the ultimate goal of this extra help is to create meaningful and memorable experiences for community members and visitors.

“That’s part of the grant, is that not only do we teach science and learn about the eclipse, but that we build community through that.” said Thompson.

There will be multiple viewing locations that sky-watchers can go to, from the rural spots of Los Pinos Winery and Efurd Orchards to the heart of downtown.

Pittsburg Mayor David Abernathy said, “This will only occur again in this spot in about 375 years from now. So it’s a huge deal, it’s coming to our town. It’s coming to a town near you.”

The city is expecting three times their population of about 5,000.

“Could be a huge boost for the economy. We just need to plan for that kind of crowd here. It could be one of the biggest crowds that Pittsburg’s ever had.” said Abernathy.

On November 10, the city will launch dedicated web pages on the city website that will provide a comprehensive guide to all eclipse-related activities leading up to the big day.

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