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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 Stellarium〔(Stellarium: Royal Ontario Museum, accessed August 6, 2007 )〕 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.〔Browne, Kelvin. Bold Visions: The Architecture of the Royal Ontario Museum—Souvenir Edition. p.21. Royal Ontario Museum. ISBN 978-0-88854-450-6〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Sirrah McLaughlin )〕 Early in 2009 the R.O.M. announced that it had sold the building and site to the University of Toronto, who plan 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 McLaughlin Planetarium'', Henry C. King, 1969, p.15.〕 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.〔MacRae, Donald A. The Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Vol. 59, No. 6, p.249, December 1965〕 The building was designed by architects Allward and Gouinlock〔(''A modern tragedy: At long last, our mid-20th-century buildings are gaining popular respect. But is it too little, too late?'' by Alex Bozikovic, Globe & Mail, Saturday, November 26, 2005, accessed July 8, 2007 )〕 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.〔''Stars in the Ceiling'', Thomas Clarke. Rotunda, Summer 1982, Volume 15, Number 2, p. 17.〕 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 R.O.M; 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「McLaughlin Planetarium」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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