text: mclaughlin planetarium the mclaughlin planetarium is a former working planetarium whose building occupies 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 facility was opened to the public on october 26 , 1968 . it had , for its time , a state - of - the - art electro - mechanical zeiss planetarium projector that was used to project regular themed shows about the stars , planets , and cosmology for visitors . by the 1980s the planetarium 's sound - system and domed ceiling were used to display dazzling music - themed laser - light shows . the lower levels of the planetarium contained a gallery called the " astrocentre " that featured space - related exhibits , related artifacts on the history of astronomy and was also home of the world 's first commercial starting in 1978 , there was a decline in attendance that lasted for four years while major construction was being undertaken at its sibling institution , the adjacent royal ontario museum . this work also entailed the demolition of part of the planetarium 's facilities . though attendance picked up when the 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 . for a brief period it housed the children 's own museum . it is now used solely for offices and as a storage facility for the museum . early in 2009 , the r.o.m. announced that it had sold the building and site to the university of toronto , which plans to demolish the existing building to make way for additional facilities . in september , 2014 , the university announced preliminary plans for new facilities to be built on the site . beginnings proposals for building a planetarium in toronto date back to 1944 , but serious planning only started in 1962 , thanks to a bequest made 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 site near the existing royal ontario museum , adding that significant financial support would have to come from outside the university to make it possible . 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 recent construction of the hayden planetarium in new york , named after charles hayden , who had been a friend and associate on the board of international nickel . mclaughlin donated $ 2 million for the building 's construction , and gave an additional $ 1 . 15 million as an ongoing endowment . the university of toronto , which owned and operated the royal ontario museum prior to becoming a separate , provincially funded body , donated land 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 at 86 queens park that had been the residence for the president of the university of toronto . the building was designed by architects allward and and by the engineering firm stone and webster canada , ltd. in 1965 . colonel mclaughlin unveiled a model of the building at 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 october 26 , 1968 . in addition to what was built , the original plans also called for a multi - story parking garage , a 550 - seat conventional movie theatre , and a direct underground link to the museum subway stop . these features were deemed too costly and were never built . the building contained four floors : a basement containing a lecture hall that hosted meetings of the toronto branch of the royal astronomical society of canada , as well as some general storage rooms ; a ground floor that featured a small store selling space - themed merchandise , a small library , coat - check room , a prominent bronze bust of colonel mclaughlin , and the box office and staff lounge ( not accessible to the public ) ; a second floor , called the " astrocentre " , which featured various astronomical exhibits and a line to the adjacent ; 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 , along with two back rooms that housed computers , cooling systems , and audio / visual controllers . the public theatre could seat 340 people at a time , and contained a sound system of approximately 25 , 000 watts . the building the dominant feature of the building is the dome , which rises 25 . 3 meters ( 83 ft ) from the ground , and has an outer diameter of 27 . 7 meters ( 91 ft ) . 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 . the projection dome was separate from the outer dome , and was 23 meters ( 75 . 4 ft ) 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 and reduced echoes in the cavernous space . 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 the planetarium projector was the focal piece of equipment at the planetarium . it was a universal projection planetarium type 23 / 6 , made by carl zeiss in jena , in what was then east germany . the planetarium projector was a 13 - foot ( 4 . 0 m ) -long dumbbell - shaped object , with 29 - inch ( 740 mm ) -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 . 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 . 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 . 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 . a listing from 1970 includes shows titled the story of eclipses , which looked at how solar eclipses occur and their scientific importance , man and the zodiac which explored the history of mythology and astrology with regard to the night sky , and the planet venus which surveyed the history of the planet in mythology , the planet 's motion across the sky and featured imagined views from its surface . 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 . the 1980s and early 1990s some of the automated " star shows " that appeared in this time interval include : " planets , stars , and galaxies " , a general show about our knowledge of astronomy at the time ; " mars , the journey begins " , the story of the exploration of mars ( from prehistory to the then - present ) , and possible future plans for terraforming mars ; " beyond the 4th dimension " , which explored , in layman 's terms , the 4 dimensions of general relativity , the big bang and inflation , and the new ( at the time ) theories of physics that postulated that space has up to 11 dimensions ; some of these shows featured creative and novel sound tracks composed by composer - in - residence mychael danna . 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 " " 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 . corporate events were promoted through the and included such events as a ctv fall season launch as well as corporate of sun microsystems and product launches from nec and other companies . 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 , a slowly rotating display containing a 3d representation of almost a thousand stars in our immediate stellar neighbourhood . 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 falling attendance and a declining interest in space , and that the closure was necessitated by 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 . no succeeding provincial government has shown an interest in reversing this decision . 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 and at david dunlap 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 . more recently , the university has offered the mothballed projector to other planetaria seeking parts to repair their existing electro - mechanical planetarium projectors . after the closure 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 . during its three - year tenure in that building , it hosted nearly a half - million visitors . the institution still exists , though it currently ( as of 2009 ) has no physical home . it is currently seeking suitable space to use in future endeavours . in the meantime the organization has participated in various children 's events around the city . 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 . up until 2007 , the building has primarily served as office space and storage for exhibits that have been moved out of the r.o.m. while the lee - chin crystal wing was under construction . 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 elsewhere in downtown toronto . smaller educational planetaria still exist in the toronto region . at some time after 1995 , seneca college closed their roberta bondar earth and space centre planetarium . the ontario science centre on don mills road operates a high - resolution digital planetarium with funding from ca , inc . , and the royal ontario museum also offers a small , portable , inflatable planetarium for school groups . since the closing , the ontario science centre has taken over the mclaughlin planetarium 's role as toronto 's public planetarium , though using a much smaller facility . planned redevelopment 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 residential building in a district of low - rise public buildings . , though it was reported that r.o.m. director william was planning to revive the scheme to place a residential tower on the site . on january 26 , 2009 the r.o.m. announced that it had sold the building and the site for $ 22 million to the university of toronto , who originally planned to demolish the existing building and build additional facilities for its law and business faculties . on september 9 , 2014 the university of toronto announced a new museum and academic complex . it was to include the jewish museum of canada , a faculty of music performance hall , research centres and history department academic space . in its early stages of planning and approvals the project lacked complete funding at the time of the announcement . in january 2016 , the university announced it would proceed with construction of what is now to be called the centre for civilizations and cultures , without the participation of the jewish museum of canada because the " needed to focus on more pressing funding priorities . " the project is to be designed by diller scofidio + renfro of new york in collaboration with of toronto . the centre is to house the university 's department of history , its department of near and middle eastern civilizations , the institute of islamic studies and the research arm for the tanenbaum centre for jewish studies , and a new 250 - seat performance hall for the university 's faculty of music . 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 . 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 . affiliations the museum is affiliated with : cma , , and virtual museum of canada .