A promotional picture of the original configuration for the McLaughlin Planetarium, prior to extensive renovations that removed its northern annex, circa early 1970s

The McLaughlin Planetarium is a former working planetarium whose building continues to occupy a space immediately to the south of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, at 100 Queen's Park. Founded by a grant from philanthropist Colonel R. Samuel McLaughlin, the building was opened to the public on October 26, 1968. It had, for its time, a state-of-the-art Zeiss planetarium projector and a gallery featuring space-related exhibits and related artifacts on the history of astronomy. A precipitous decline in attendance came in conjunction with major construction at the its sibling institution, the Royal Ontario Museum, which lasted a total of four years starting in 1978, and also entailed the demolition of part of the Planetarium's facilities. Though attendance picked up when the adjacent Museum reopened in 1984, the Planetarium was forced to close on November 5, 1995, due to provincial budget cuts to the Museum. The Planetarium's exhibits, artifacts and theatre facilities were subsequently dismantled and dispersed. It is now used solely for offices and as a storage facility for the Museum. Image File history File links McLaughlinPlanetarium_PromoShot. ... Image File history File links McLaughlinPlanetarium_PromoShot. ... A planetarium is a theater built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. ... The mosaic ceiling of the rotunda entrance to the museum. ... Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Diversity Our Strength Established: March 6, 1834 Area: East to West: 43 km North to South: 21 km629. ... Colonel Robert Samuel McLaughlin (September 8, 1871 - January 6, 1972) was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist and founder, in 1907, of the McLaughlin Motor Car Co. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Carl Zeiss The Carl Zeiss AG is a German manufacturer of optical systems, industrial measurements and medical devices, located in Oberkochen with important subsidiaries in Aalen and Jena. ... Lunar astronomy: the large crater is Daedalus, photographed by the crew of Apollo 11 as they circled the Moon in 1969. ... The mosaic ceiling of the rotunda entrance to the museum. ... November 5 is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 56 days remaining. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Beginnings

An image of Col. Robert Samuel McLaughlin in his later years, whose donation made the Planetarium possible.

Proposals for building a planetarium in Toronto date back to 1944, but it took until 1962 when serious planning was started, thanks to a bequest made with this purpose in mind by a former member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC). In May 1964 the Chairman and the President of the University of Toronto gave their support for the idea to the RASC, and suggested a suitable site near the existing Royal Ontario Museum, adding that significant financial support would have to come from outside the University to make it possible. Image File history File linksMetadata RobertSamuelMcLaughlin-promo. ... Image File history File linksMetadata RobertSamuelMcLaughlin-promo. ... The University of Toronto (U of T), in Toronto, Ontario, is the largest university in Canada. ... The mosaic ceiling of the rotunda entrance to the museum. ...

In November 1964 Canadian businessman Colonel R. Samuel McLaughlin announced plans for donating money directly towards establishing a planetarium in Toronto. He was inspired by the construction of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, named after his colleague Charles Hayden, who had been a friend and associate on the board of International Nickel. He made a gift of $2 million in order to construct the building, and an addition $1.15 million as an ongoing endowment.^[Donation] It was decided that the planetarium would be run as a division of the Royal Ontario Museum, which was then seeking to operate as a separate, provincially funded body from the University of Toronto. It was also decided to locate the Planetarium adjacent to the Museum. The building was constructed in an area that had formerly been a park belonging to the museum, and also required the demolition of a mansion that had once been the residence for the President of the University of Toronto. Colonel Robert Samuel McLaughlin (September 8, 1871 - January 6, 1972) was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist and founder, in 1907, of the McLaughlin Motor Car Co. ... Hayden Planetarium is a public planetarium located on Central Park West, New York City, next to the famous American Museum of Natural History. ... Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 27th 141,205 km² 455 km 530 km 13. ... Inco Limited (TSX: N) (NYSE: N) is a Canadian mining and metals company, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. ... The University of Toronto (U of T), in Toronto, Ontario, is the largest university in Canada. ... The University of Toronto (U of T), in Toronto, Ontario, is the largest university in Canada. ...

The building was designed by architects Allward & Gouinlock in 1965, and Colonel McLaughlin unveiled a model of the building on his 94th birthday celebration, which was held in his honour at the museum in September of that year. It was hoped that the building would be open by Canada's centennial in 1967, but construction delays forced the opening to 1968. A centennial is a 100-year anniversary of an event, or the celebrations pertaining thereto. ...

Original plans also called for a multistorey parking garage, a 550-seat conventional movie theatre, and a direct underground link to the Museum subway stop, but these additions were deemed too costly and were never put into effect.^{[RotundaArticle]} A T-1 subway train pulls out of Museum station on its way north to Finch. ...

The building was divided into four main floors:

• a basement used for general storage;
• a ground floor that featured a small store selling space-themed merchandise, a small space-themed library, coat-check room and a prominent bronze bust of Colonel McLaughlin;
• a second floor, called the "Astrocentre", which featured various astronomical exhibits; and
• a third floor, called "The Theatre of the Stars", was devoted wholly to astronomical shows, and featured a Zeiss planetarium projector along with 85 slide and video projectors used to recreate starry skies. It could seat 340 people at a time.

The Building

The dominant feature of the building is the dome, which rises 25.3 meters (83 feet) from the ground, and has an outer diameter of 27.7 meters (91 feet). The dome structure is layered, with an outer waterproofed casing of reinforced concrete 4 centimeters (2.5 inches) thick, and an inner concrete dome that is insulated by a layer of urethane foam. Reinforced concrete at Sainte Jeanne dArc Church (Nice, France): architect Jacques Dror, 1926–1933 Reinforced concrete (ferro concrete) is concrete in which reinforcement bars (rebars) or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the material that would otherwise be brittle. ...

The projection dome was separate from the outer dome, and was 23 meters (75.4 feet) in diameter. Made of curved aluminum sheets, it was lap jointed to create a continuous spherical surface. The sheets were painted white and perforated with 2.5-millimeter (0.1 inch) holes, which were designed to let sound through, reduced echo, and also played a part in the ventilation of the building. In woodworking, or metal fitting, a lap joint describes a technique for joining two pieces of material by overlapping them. ...

The building had two main entrances: a main entrance at ground level that faced east onto Queen's Park Drive, and a connecting passageway from the Royal Ontario Museum from what used to be the Mineralogy Gallery. Admission to either facility allowed visitors to see exhibits in both buildings, though a Planetarium show cost extra.

Zeiss-Jena planetarium projector

Zeiss-Jena Universal Projection Planetarium Type 23/6 1 - Constellation Figure Projector (North) 2 - Star Globe (North) 3 - Mechanical shutter of star field projector 4 - Milky Way projector (North) 5 - Planetary projectors (North) 6 - Lattice ring for Sun, Moon and Vertical circle projectors 7 - Horizon circle projector 8 - Planetary projectors (South) 9 - Star Globe (South) 10 - Compass point projector

The planetarium projector was the focal piece of equipment at the planetarium. It was a Universal Projection Planetarium type 23/6, made by Kombinat VEB Carl Zeiss JENA in what was then East Germany^{[JenaMagazine]}. The East German-made projectors of the time cost less than their equivalents made in West Germany by the firm of Carl Zeiss. Image File history File linksMetadata UniversalProjectionPlanetarium-Type23-6. ... Image File history File linksMetadata UniversalProjectionPlanetarium-Type23-6. ... A planetarium projector is a device used to project images of celestial objects onto the dome in a planetarium. ... The Volkseigener Betrieb (German: people-owned enterprise; abbreviation: VEB) was the legal form of industrial enterprise in East Germany. ... Carl Zeiss Carl Zeiss (September 11, 1816 – December 3, 1888) was an optician commonly known for the company he founded, Zeiss. ... National motto: none Official languages German Capital East Berlin Largest city East Berlin Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 106th 108,333 km² Negligible Creation -Abolition 7 October 1949 3 October 1990 Currency East German mark Time zone  â€“ in summer CET (UTC+1) CEST (UTC+2) National anthem Auferstanden aus Ruinen Internet... Carl Zeiss Carl Zeiss (September 11, 1816 – December 3, 1888) was an optician commonly known for the company he founded, Zeiss. ...

The planetarium projector was a 13-foot-long dumbbell-shaped object, with 29-inch-diameter spheres attached at each end representing the night sky for the northern and southern hemispheres. Connecting the two spheres was a framework that held nearly 150 individual projectors, including those dedicated to the planets, the Sun, and specific stars.

Improvements were made to the original planetarium projector over the years, allowing for special effects that could show close-up displays of specific planets, and the Sun and Moon projectors could replicate the experience of a solar or lunar eclipse. Photo taken during the French 1999 eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes in front of the Sun and obscures it totally or partially. ... An eclipse refers to the phenomenon of one body passing into the shadow cast by another body. ...

The projector could be controlled by a console where an individual presenter would provide specific talks or lectures. By the mid-1970s, automation features were added, which led to the creation of prerecorded shows.^{[BallantyneResume]} Most visitors to the facility would have seen an automated 40- to 45-minute audio/visual show on a particular space-related topic. Two types of shows were typically alternated on a daily basis: one aimed at families with young children and another aimed at older children and adults.^[ROM-MRPage] Typical shows aimed at both audience types were built around themes such as space travel, the mythical stories behind the constellations, and around Christmas-time, a show that investigated theories on stellar explanations for the Star of Bethlehem. Orion is a remarkable constellation, visible from most places on the globe at one time or another during the year. ... Christmas (literally, the Mass of Jesus Christ) is a traditional holiday observed on 25 December. ... The sky over Bethlehem at the time of Jesus. ...

Renovations in the late 1970s and early 1980s

When plans were drawn up for a major expansion of the adjacent Royal Ontario Museum in the mid-1970s, it was initially assumed that the Planetarium, then still a comparatively new facility, would be left untouched. As the scope of the expansion increased, it was realized that its north annex would need to be demolished in order to make way for the Museum's need for a wing devoted to curatorial facilities. As a result, a theatre entrance, sound studio, workshop, passenger elevator and a third of the existing gallery area of the Planetarium had to go. The remaining gallery area was removed in March 1978 to make space for temporary space to replace the workshop and studio.

Significant changes to the Planetarium were made during this time, including the addition of a new spiral staircase that led straight to the Theatre of the Stars, an adjacent elevator for the elderly and disabled, and a larger gallery space on the second floor.

The Planetarium remained at normal levels of service during this renovation period, but attendance dropped significantly, particularly when the adjacent Museum was closed for a period of two years during the most intensive phase of its second major expansion. In all, the construction phase lasted for four years, from 1978 to 1982. In particular, some school groups that could justify the expense of seeing the Museum and a Planetarium show in a single day's outing had difficulty justifying a visit solely to the Planetarium.^{[RotundaArticle]} The mosaic ceiling of the rotunda entrance to the museum. ...

The 1980s and early 1990s

While the main attraction continued to be the astronomical shows put on during the day, in the early 1980s, regular laser light shows became a staple evening's entertainment in the city. Typical shows included "Laser Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon", "Laser Zeppelin", "Sgt. Peppers Laser Light Show" and later, such shows of more contemporary musical artists such as "Laser Depeche Mode", "Laser NIN" and "Laser Nirvana". These shows were held under the name "Laserarium" rather than that of the Planetarium, though the laser-light and star shows were held in the same building. The laser shows were created by the Florida-based firm Audio Visual Imagineering, whose shows are also seen at other planetaria. Pink Floyd (formed in 1965 in Cambridge, England) is an English rock music band, noted for progressive compositions, philosophic lyrics, sonic experimentation, cover art and elaborate live shows. ... Led Zeppelin was a British rock band that became one of the most popular and influential musical ensembles ever. ... Depeche Mode is a synthpop band from the town of Basildon, England, originally founded in 1980. ... NIN redirects here. ... This article is about the grunge band Nirvana. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 22nd 170 451 km² 260 km 800 km 17. ...

Other exhibits in the revamped Astrocentre included a new 50-seat mini-theatre, wall murals illustrating the phases of the moon, plus an increasing number of hands-on exhibits and interactive computer-driven displays. There were also displays of astronomical globes, an orrery and pictures of the planets, many taken by contemporary space probes. The Astrocentre also featured the world's first commercial Stellarium, a slowly rotating display containing a 3D representation of almost a thousand stars in our immediate stellar neighbourhood.^[Stellarium] An orrery is a mechanical device that illustrates the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons in the solar system in heliocentric model. ... Stellarium is a free software planetarium, licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License, available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. It uses OpenGL to render a supposedly realistic three-dimensional sky in real time. ...

Closure

The McLaughlin Planetarium was closed on November 5, 1995. The president of the ROM stated that the closure of the planetarium was due to a combination of declining attendance, a declining interest in space travel as well as to provincial budget cuts. The decision came as a surprise to many, as attendance had rebounded in recent years, and the planetarium was one of few in North America at the time that was turning a profit. The closure meant that 40 people lost their jobs.

Despite the ROM citing lowered attendance figures, proponents of the planetarium have alleged that the Conservative Ontario provincial government of the time, led by Mike Harris, was looking for an instant and visible $600,000 cut to the ROM's operating budget.^{[Harris-cuts]} The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party of Ontario) is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Official languages English (French has some legal status, and is an official language of Canada, but is not fully co-official at the provincial level) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton... Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945, in Toronto, Ontario) was the twenty-second Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. ...

Shortly after the announcement, the exhibits, seating and wiring were dismantled or removed. Some of the signs and paintings were recovered by the RASC, which had a permanent workspace located within the facility, and are now on display at the E.C. Carr Astronomical Observatory. The original Zeiss-Jena projector was bought as a museum piece by York University for the sum of $1, subsequently dismantled, and placed into storage.^{[RASC-Article]} More recently, the University has offered the mothballed projector to other planetaria seeking parts to repair their existing electro-mechanical planetarium projectors. York University (YorkU) is a large comprehensive university, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ...

After the closing

A picture of the McLaughlin Planetarium building, taken early 2006. Note the portable construction office located in front of what was the main entrance.

The planetarium has been reopened for other purposes since it closed its doors as a planetarium in 1995. On March 5, 1998, an initial three-year agreement was signed that brought the Children's Own Museum to the second floor of the planetarium, where the Astrocentre used to be. Due to impending construction at the adjacent Royal Ontario Museum, the contract was not renewed in late 2002, and the Children's Own Museum has been looking for a new location ever since.^[COM] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2288x1712, 787 KB) Summary Image of the McLaughlin Planetarium, Toronto. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2288x1712, 787 KB) Summary Image of the McLaughlin Planetarium, Toronto. ... March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The Childrens Own Museum is a Toronto-based organization that believes in play-based learning experiences for young children. ...

Later in 2002, a traveling exhibit of costumes, props and models used in the making of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy ran for four weeks at the planetarium. This was the last public exhibition housed in the building. The building is now primarily used as office space for museum officials and for storage. Peter Jackson in New York (USA), at the premiere of King Kong, December 5, 2005 Peter Jackson CNZM (born October 31, 1961, Pukerua Bay) is a New Zealand-born filmmaker best-known as the director of the epic film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, which he, along with Fran... Dust jacket of the 1968 UK edition The Lord of the Rings is an epic fantasy story by J. R. R. Tolkien, a sequel to his earlier work, The Hobbit. ...

Though the building is still extant as of 2005, it is clear that the directors of The Royal Ontario Museum have intentions for using the space it occupies. On April 14, 2004, the directors put out a call "for expressions of interest" to redevelop the space occupied by the planetarium. Seeking additional funding to cover the costs of the second phase of the expansion and redevelopment of the Museum, the directors of the museum had planned on erecting luxury condominiums on the space currently occupied by the planetarium. This proposal was dropped on November 7, 2005, due to extensive public opposition to the construction of a tall condominium in a district of low-rise public buildings.^{[Globe-CondoScrapped]} See also: April 13, 2004 - April 2004 - April 15, 2004 2004 South African legislative election: The African National Congress (ANC) of President Thabo Mbeki, which has been in power since the end of the apartheid system in 1994, is re-elected with an increased majority. ... There are two meanings of condominium In international law, a condominium is a territory in which two sovereign powers have equal rights. ... November 7 is the 311th day of the year (312th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 54 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Ever since the planetarium's closing, there have been groups that have lobbied for its reopening. At first, efforts concentrated on reopening the existing facility, but in more recent years, the focus has shifted to establishing a wholly new permanent planetarium facility. Smaller educational planetaria still exist in the Toronto region, including the planetarium at the Roberta Bondar Earth and Space Centre at Seneca College, and at the Ontario Science Centre. The Royal Ontario Museum also offers a traveling inflatable Starlab planetarium for school groups.^[Starlab] Dr. Roberta Bondar, OC , O.Ont , MD , Ph. ... Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology has approximately 90,000 part-time and 17,000 full-time students. ... Ontario Science Centre (OSC) is a science museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, near the Don Valley Parkway about 11 km northeast of downtown on Don Mills Road just south of Eglinton Avenue East. ...

Curators

• Henry C. King 1968-1976
• Dr. Thomas R. Clarke 1976-1995

Literary references

In the eponymous short story in the collection The Moons of Jupiter by Alice Munro, the protagonist visits the Planetarium and takes in a show, and then goes on to visit the Royal Ontario Museum. She reports to her father, who is on his deathbed in a Toronto hospital, that she enjoyed the show but found the Planetarium to be "a slightly phony temple" to the stars.^{[MoonsOfJupiter]} Alice Munro (born Alice Ann Laidlaw on July 10, 1931) is a Canadian short story writer, widely considered one of the greatest short story writers in modern literature. ...

In the opening chapter of Robert J. Sawyer's science fiction novel Calculating God, an alien spaceship lands directly in front of the McLaughlin Planetarium, prior to going on a tour of the exhibits in the Royal Ontario Museum.^{[CalculatingGod]} Robert J. Sawyer (born April 29, 1960) is a Canadian science fiction writer, dubbed the dean of Canadian science fiction by the Ottawa Citizen in 1999. ...

References

1. ^[Donation] The McLaughlin Planetarium, Henry C. King, 1969, p.15.
2. ^{[BallantyneResume]} Resumé of Robert Ballantyne, former Planetarium Producer-Curate of the Planetarium from July 1968 to October 1976
3. ^[ROM-MRPage] Undated Media Release (likely early 1990s), issued on behalf of the Royal Ontario Museum Media Relations department
4. ^{[RotundaArticle]} Stars in the Ceiling, Thomas Clarke. Rotunda, Summer 1982, Volume 15, Number 2, p. 17.
5. ^{[JenaMagazine]} The McLaughlin Planetarium of the Royal Ontario Museum, Jena Review. 1984: no. 3, p 144.
6. ^[Stellarium] Stellarium: Royal Ontario Museum, accessed December 30, 2005
7. ^{[Harris-cuts]} "Astronomy buffs wish upon a star", Globe & Mail, January 22, 2005, p.M2, accessed December 19, 2005
8. ^[COM] Children's Own Museum, accessed January 15, 2006
9. ^{[Globe-CondoScrapped]} "ROM condo-tower plan scrapped", Globe & Mail, accessed November 10, 2005
10. ^{[RASC-Article]} "Toronto Centre's Former Home to be Demolished", accessed December 22, 2005
11. ^[Starlab] Royal Ontario Museum - Starlab
12. ^{[CalculatingGod]} First chapter of Robert J. Sawyer's Calculating God
13. ^{[MoonsOfJupiter]} The Moons of Jupiter, Alice Munro. Harmondsworth, Penguin. 1984. p 232.

Bibliography

The McLaughlin Planetarium, Henry C. King, Royal Ontario Museum, 1968. ISBN 0888540647

External links

• "Astronomy enthusiasts miss old Toronto planetarium, hope for a new one" Yahoo! Canada News, November 20, 2005, accessed December 18, 2005
• Children's Own Museum home page, accessed December 18, 2005
• Google Satellite image of The McLaughlin Planetarium, accessed December 20, 2005
• McLaughlin Planetarium announcing the agreement to bring the Children's Own Museum to the building, accessed December 18, 2005
• "Planetarium rebirth: multi-media 'omnitarium' coming to York", November 10, 1999, York University Gazette Online, Cathy Carlyle, accessed December 18, 2005
• "Planning the McLaughlin Planetarium" The Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, December 1965. Donald A. MacRae
• Press release on The Lord of the Rings "The Two Towers" exhibit to open at the planetarium, accessed December 18, 2005
• Roberta Bondar Earth and Space Centre - Planetarium
• "Save the planetarium for the real stars", Eye Weekly, November 28, 2002, Edward Keenan, accessed December 18, 2005
• Seeing Stars, Eye Weekly, November 30, 1995, Donna Lypchuk, accessed December 18, 2005
• Stellarium at the McLaughlin Planetarium, 1984 – 1987
• "Toronto Centre's Former Home to be Demolished", accessed December 18, 2005
• "Turning on the Stars" U. of T. – The Bulletin, Dec. 18/95, John Percy, accessed December 18, 2005