Centennial Planetarium facts for kids
The Centennial Planetarium was a special building in Calgary, Alberta. It was a planetarium, which is a place where you can learn about stars and space. The building is located at 701 11 Street SW. It was designed by a Calgary company called McMillan Long and Associates. The Planetarium opened in 1967 to celebrate the Canadian Centennial, which was Canada's 100th birthday. It is a great example of Brutalist architecture, a style that uses strong, simple shapes and raw concrete. Today, the building is home to Contemporary Calgary, a public art gallery.
A Look Back: History and Design
In the 1960s, many people were very excited about space exploration. Because of this, the City of Calgary decided to build a new planetarium. This would be their special project to celebrate the Canadian Centennial in 1967.
A contest was held in 1964 to find the best design for the new building. The design by McMillan Long and Associates was chosen as the winner. This company was started by Hugh McMillan and Jack Long. The Centennial Planetarium was built between 1966 and 1967 by Sam Hashman.
The Planetarium was built on a site near the Mewata Armouries, looking over the Bow River. It was made using raw concrete. The building has a unique design with a central area and two main sections, called wings.
- The west wing held the "celestial theatre." This theatre had 255 seats and a huge 65-foot domed screen. It was used to show amazing views of space.
- The east wing had a lecture hall with 250 seats. This was used for talks and presentations.
The Planetarium also had a library, a deck for observing, and telescopes.
The building won important awards for its design. In 1967, it won the Nation Design Council Concrete Award. In 1970, it received the Massey Medal in Architecture.
From 1971 to 1985, the Planetarium also kept a collection of aircraft and airplane engines. This collection later became the start of The Hangar Flight Museum.
In 1984, the Calgary Science Centre moved into the Centennial Planetarium. It stayed there for 27 years, until 2011.
In June 2018, Contemporary Calgary, a new public art gallery, made an agreement with the City of Calgary. They decided to rent the building for 25 years.
Building the Planetarium
Construction of the Calgary Centennial Planetarium began in 1966. It was finished just in time to celebrate the 1967 Canadian Centennial.
What's Happening Now
The building still looks mostly like it did when it was first built. There have been a few changes, though. In 2010, a large part of the parking area was removed. This was done to make space for the west line of the CTrain, Calgary's light rail transit system.
On June 27, 2011, the Calgary Science Centre stopped operating at the Planetarium. They moved to a brand new location in the Nose Creek valley later that year. After the Science Centre left, the building was empty for some time.
In March 2014, the City of Calgary agreed to work with a new group called Contemporary Calgary. This group was formed by combining a few art organizations. Their goal was to turn the Planetarium into an art gallery.
The City of Calgary started fixing up and improving the building in 2017. In August 2019, new money was announced to help with the project. While work continued, the new art gallery opened to the public two days a week.
