Montreal Planetarium

Montreal Planetarium
The Zeiss planetarium projector installed at the Montreal Planetarium

The Montreal Planetarium (originally named the Dow Planetarium) is a public planetarium located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the oldest surviving public planetarium in Canada.[1] It is also Canada's largest, with a seating capacity of approximately 375.

Contents

History

The planetarium was opened in advance of Expo 67, located at 1000 Saint Jacques Street. It was inaugurated on April 1, 1966 by then-Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau. Its inaugural show, "New Skies for a New City", premiered on April 4, 1966.

Work had commenced on the project more than three years before, under the guidance of Dr. Pierre Gendron, a former professor of chemistry and founding Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa, who was an avid amateur astronomer. President of the board of directors of Dow Breweries, Gendron convinced Dow to create a world-class planetarium in Montreal, as part of the Canadian Centennial celebrations.

The architects on the project were David-Barott-Boulva. The chosen design had an astronomical theme, and the exterior of the dome resembles Saturn surrounded by its rings. The Planetarium was built at a cost of $1.2 million on the site of the historic Bonaventure Station on Chaboillez Square near Old Montreal.[1]

Past and present

Since 1966, the Planetarium has produced more than 250 shows, been visited by nearly six million spectators, and more than 58,000 presentations have been given in French and English in its "Star Theatre". The Planetarium is one of Montreal's most popular tourist attractions.

Future

Plans are underway to move the Planetarium from its central location to Maisonneuve Park in the eastern part of the city, near the Olympic Stadium. The logic behind this decision is that it would make more sense for the Planetarium to be close to other science-themed attractions like the Biodome, the Insectarium and the Montreal Botanical Garden, which are already in this area. The move would cost an estimated $31 million. Rio Tinto Alcan would contribute $4 million, with the three levels of government (city, province and federal) splitting the rest.[2]

Heritage conservation group Heritage Montreal has listed the Planetarium as a "threatened emblematic site," stating that such a move would "result in the loss of the primary function of the planetarium structure and could serve as a pretext for its demolition. This would deprive Montreal [...] of an exceptional facility, one that could contribute to the cultural revitalization of this part of downtown that borders the commercial centre of the city, the École de Technologie Supérieure and the Cité du Multimédia."[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Dow Planetarium". Threatened Emblematic Sites. Heritage Montreal. 2009. http://www.heritagemontreal.org/en/dow-planetarium/. Retrieved 29 November 2009.  describes it as the first planetarium in Canada, but the Queen Elizabeth Planetarium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada was officially opened September 22, 1960. It was demolished to make way for the Telus World of Science in 1983."History of Queen Elizabeth Planetarium". http://www.telusplanet.net/public/hgibbins/QEP/history.html. Retrieved 13 October 2011. 
  2. ^ Montreal Gazette

External links

Coordinates: 45°29′45.84″N 73°33′50.04″W / 45.4960667°N 73.5639°W / 45.4960667; -73.5639


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