We are incredibly excited to host people for this fantastic event on our campus. If you have not already done so, please RSVP so we can account for a seat and solar glasses for you and those in your party. Please respond as soon as possible with an exact number of guests in your party.
(We will record the Vatican Observatory presentations and the eclipse itself, but those videos will not be posted until after the eclipse event concludes.)
Tickets: Once you RSVP, you will receive tickets by email. These should arrive in your inbox by July 15. Please let us know if you have any trouble printing your tickets, or if you do not receive them. Children young enough to sit on laps and not taking up a seat will not require a ticket. Your ticket is your pass into the stadium and only current Benedictine students and staff will need to show their IDs.
Parking: Our students will be back on campus by this date so parking on campus will be unavailable. Handicap parking will be available for those displaying a handicap sticker in their vehicle. But you need to let us know immediately if you need a handicap parking spot. You will also need a parking badge mailed to you to be allowed through the barricade as 2nd Street in front of campus will be closed to thru traffic the day of the eclipse and this will be the only way security will let you through. Security will direct you to the handicap parking in the Amino Lot outside of the football stadium. There are a limited number of handicap parking spaces available so please act quickly if you need this.
PARKING UPDATE: We have secured a large parking area north of the Benedictine Campus on Second Street at 298th Road at the Riverbend International School. Since you will not be able to drive directly up Second St., it will be best to travel north up 6th Street or 7th Street to Harper Dr. and then turn right and go back to Second St. and proceed north to the parking area. We will have a shuttle running to bring people to the campus.
Seating: Our stadium holds 2400 (completely sold out), but we will be adding extra chairs for seating on the track. We will also allow folks to bring blankets for seating in the grass on the practice football field above our stadium. There will be limited space available for handicap seating. Please let us know if you need to utilize the handicap seating area when you RSVP.
Lodging: Atchison and St. Joseph, Missouri are completely booked (for both lodging and places to view the eclipse). We suggest checking hotels in Leavenworth or Lawrence, as well as hotels along the I-70 speedway near Kansas City. The Riverbend International School in Atchison has dorm rooms available for rent. You may contact Dr. Ogle at the school at (913) 426-3411 or Heather Roesch at (816) 804-4224 to check on the availability and to reserve these rooms. It has also come to our attention that some Atchison citizens are renting out their homes on the Airbnb hospitality marketplace.
Travel Alert: If you are traveling from Kansas City or planning to travel to Atchison via I-29: it is predicted that I-29 may be gridlocked due to the heavy traffic trying to get to St. Joseph, MO and Atchison. We suggest planning alternative routes for the day of the eclipse if you are concerned with the amount of traffic.
Food: The Benedictine College Dining Hall will be open from 7:15 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. with continuous service (see below for the schedule and pricing - CASH or CREDIT). The concession stand in the stadium will also be in operation, but will not be able to handle such a large crowd on its own. In addition, we have a few vendors (pizza, nachos, pulled pork and homemade pies) who will have food available on the practice field (CASH ONLY). Atchison will undoubtedly have various options open during that day, but the limited restaurants in Atchison will most likely be unable to cover our guests. You may also bring a sack lunch and a water bottle. Coolers are NOT allowed in the stadium, but are welcome on the practice field.
Dining Hall (serving continuously from 7:15 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.)
Hot Breakfast, 7:15 - 9:30 a.m., $5.00
Continental Breakfast (cereal, pastries, whole fruit, AM Bar), 9:30 -10:45 a.m., $3.00
Lunch, 10:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., $5.00
Afternoon Snack (Grill, Pizza, Salad Bar, Deli Bar, Soup, Dessert), 1:30 - 4:45 p.m., $5.00
Dinner, 4:45 - 7:00 p.m., $5.00
Bottled Water, COKE and Diet COKE will be offered for $2.00
Solar Glasses: We have official licensed solar glasses we will be passing out to our guests until we run out. The glasses are from Halo, an approved vendor from the American Astronomical Society. That means these glasses have been verified by an accredited testing laboratory to meet the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard. IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY THAT YOU WEAR THESE GLASSES! It is never safe to look directly at the sun with the naked eye, BUT ESPECIALLY SO during the partial phase. It is only safe to look at the sun during totality.
Regarding Photography: Taking pictures of the sun at any point before or after totality will damage the sensors in your cameras, just like it will damage the retinas in your eyes. Be sure to fit your camera with a solar filter before attempting to take pictures.
Schedule of Events: Check the college website https://www.benedictine.edu/eclipse/schedule for our schedule of events, which includes speakers from the Vatican Observatory starting on Sunday evening. Please check the link often for updates as the schedule will be subject to change until all of our plans are finalized.
Miscellaneous: There is no shade in our stadium so we recommend you bring an umbrella or hat and lots of sunscreen. It of course may be very hot that day and we hope all our guests will keep themselves adequately hydrated. You may bring water bottles into the stadium and small lunch bag size containers to keep drinks cool. We will have water stations available and concessions opened in the stadium.
This event is now completely sold out. We can accept no more visitors on the campus. Due to this overwhelming response, we are no longer able to answer emails or phone calls about attending this event. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Check out more details for the eclipse path through Atchison, KS
