Hutchinson ? The man who transformed a small-town planetarium into a nationally recognized museum has taken on a new challenge in Oklahoma City.

Max Ary announced in May his departure from the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson. Fund-raising, he said, had pulled him away from his true love of creating exhibits and acquiring historical space artifacts. He also said he needed a new challenge, and now he has it.

Ary begins work late this month at the Kirkpatrick Science and Air Space Museum at Omniplex, a hodgepodge of offerings sharing a huge roof.

“It has extraordinary untapped potential,” Ary said. “It’s such an eclectic facility right now. We’re going to find a whole new direction for this place.”

The Omniplex, which dates to 1958, features more than 350 hands-on exhibits in a 500,000-square-foot building.

Ary said he couldn’t resist the opportunity to start from scratch.

“I knew I could go in and clean the slate eventually and put my own fingerprint on it … really take that facility to a whole new level in the next decade,” he said.

That’s just what Omniplex officials want him to do.

“He’s got the background,” said Nancy Coggins, director of public relations for Omniplex. “The challenge lies in making the museum more in tune with the community’s needs. We’re excited to have him.”

Under Ary’s leadership, the Hutchinson Planetarium grew from a two-person operation to a space museum that attracts about 285,000 visitors a year.