[Tulse]

Purpose-built planetariums seem like a relic of a different time, when we required specialized, expensive, one-off analog projectors to accurately portray the stars. Nowadays, with digital projectors, isn't a planetarium just a hemispheric movie screen?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Purpose-built planetariums seem like a relic of a different time, when we required specialized, expensive, one-off analog projectors to accurately portray the stars. Nowadays, with digital projectors, isn't a planetarium just a hemispheric movie screen?

Not necessarily - it's often hybrid system that combines opto-mechanical projectors and digital projectors.

AoD

 

[LUVIT!]

Relic or not relic this is a great announcement. It will be both a tourist attraction and a place for the Toronto residents to go including me. I remember when the planetarium closed and I thought it was a bad decision then and I still do now.

 

[Contra]

I've always loved how the Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences (Renzo Piano) fits into the overall structure. The examples on the front story page are also great examples of using it as almost a sculpture. Interested to see who ends up designing!

 

[TOareaFan]

Not exactly, the building hasn't been a planetarium for almost 20 years by the time U of T bought it from the ROM in 2014 - and I am pretty sure U of T didn't buy that site just so that they can reuse it for such purpose either.

No, we are agreeing...the UofT bought the site specifically to use for other purposes (an additional performance space for the Music Department, some office and classroom space for (i forget) either the History or Law departments).

Also, the original projector - nevermind being totally out of date - has also been gifted to York U and could very well have been cannabalized. So it meant that you will have to replace all of that as well.

AoD

That is, kinda, my point.......is /was there anything wrong with the old space as a planetarium that needed the entire building replaced or would simply completely upgrading the projector/tech not have done the job?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

No, we are agreeing...the UofT bought the site specifically to use for other purposes (an additional performance space for the Music Department, some office and classroom space for (i forget) either the History or Law departments).

That is, kinda, my point.......is /was there anything wrong with the old space as a planetarium that needed the entire building replaced or would simply completely upgrading the projector/tech not have done the job?

In and in its own maybe cheaper if you forgo the other initiatives - the worth of the site isn’t the empty dome, but its location relative to music and law - and Astro needed new facilities that doesn’t look like it can be sufficed by the old dome either - besides the fact that they’re in the other side of campus with all the other physical sciences.

AoD

 

[TRONto]

I hope the new building is fantastic. It's the reason they will have to tear down the old planetarium building... Or has it been torn down? I walk by it all the time and I don't remember

 

[Student99]

I think it is a reasonable size - unless you're Hayden or Adler, it is unlikely to get completely full all the time, and a bigger dome can be an issue with the site in question I think. Having said that, the site itself is bit of a mixed bag - it make sense given it is an extension of Astro; but you can also make the case of putting it at OSC or even the waterfront.

AoD

I wonder if Ontario Place's Cinesphere could have been converted into a planetarium? I've never been, but it at least is spherical.

I can't imagine the Cinesphere gets a lot of business anymore without the accompanying theme park. Do people drive out to the Cinesphere just to see a movie, some of which (from my understanding) are shown in regular theatres anyways or have been released for home viewing?

Making it into a planetarium could be a good business case.

 

[TRONto]

I wonder if Ontario Place's Cinesphere could have been converted into a planetarium? I've never been, but it at least is spherical.

I can't imagine the Cinesphere gets a lot of business anymore without the accompanying theme park. Do people drive out to the Cinesphere just to see a movie, some of which (from my understanding) are shown in regular theatres anyways or have been released for home viewing?

Making it into a planetarium could be a good business case.

I think putting Toronto's planetarium at Ontario Place is something Dougie would be up for

 

[TheSix]

I wonder if Ontario Place's Cinesphere could have been converted into a planetarium? I've never been, but it at least is spherical.

I can't imagine the Cinesphere gets a lot of business anymore without the accompanying theme park. Do people drive out to the Cinesphere just to see a movie, some of which (from my understanding) are shown in regular theatres anyways or have been released for home viewing?

Making it into a planetarium could be a good business case.

I bike there a few times a year to see a flick and the theatre is always pretty busy. I think it has a lot of potential and it is a great experience. I'll be seeing Alien and Aliens there before the holidays.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I wonder if Ontario Place's Cinesphere could have been converted into a planetarium? I've never been, but it at least is spherical.

I can't imagine the Cinesphere gets a lot of business anymore without the accompanying theme park. Do people drive out to the Cinesphere just to see a movie, some of which (from my understanding) are shown in regular theatres anyways or have been released for home viewing?

Making it into a planetarium could be a good business case.

Cinesphere is way too large - it seats 600+. Besides locating it at OP would not be a good business case anyway given how out of the way it is.

AoD

 

[JasonParis]

And we get this again too!

 

[jje1000]

I've always thought that planetariums are a bit of a niche attraction nowadays that might not necessarily do well on their own, as compared to being part of or beside a larger cultural institution- think of how the new Montreal Planetarium is beside the Biodome, or how the Hayden Planetarium is part of the American Museum of Natural History.

 

[TOareaFan]

I've always thought that planetariums are a bit of a niche attraction nowadays that might not necessarily do well on their own, as compared to being part of or beside a larger cultural institution- think of how the new Montreal Planetarium is beside the Biodome, or how the Hayden Planetarium is part of the American Museum of Natural History.

maybe we should put ours next to the ROM?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Of course, BlogTO just found out about it independently :

https://www.blogto.com/city/2018/10/downtown-toronto-could-get-stunning-new-planetarium/

AoD