Old Hansen Planetarium facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Salt Lake City Public Library
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Old Hansen Planetarium in 2010
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 Location in Utah
Location in the United States
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| Location | 15 S State St, Salt Lake City, Utah |
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| Built | 1904 |
| Architect | Hines & Lafarge; Frederick A. Hale |
| Architectural style | Beaux Arts |
| NRHP reference No. | 79002505 |
| Added to NRHP | August 7, 1979 |
The building at 15 South State Street in Salt Lake City, Utah has had many different lives! It was first built in 1904 as the Salt Lake City Public Library. Later, in 1965, it became the Hansen Planetarium.
After the planetarium moved to a new location in 2003, the building was changed again. In 2009, it opened as the O.C. Tanner Company Flagship jewelry store. This historic building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Contents
The First Salt Lake City Library Building
The very first public library in Salt Lake City opened in 1898. It was located on the top floor of the Salt Lake City and County Building. The library quickly grew too big for that space. So, the city started looking for a place to build a new, bigger library.
How the New Library Was Built
A group of women called the Ladies Literary Society helped a lot. They convinced a rich mining businessman named John Quackenbos Packard to donate land and money. The new building cost $100,000 at the time. This was a lot of money back then!
The new library officially opened in 1905. The first librarian was Joanna Sprague. A branch of the Salt Lake City Public Library system is now named after her. This building was the main library until October 1964. That's when a brand new library was built at a different location.
Library Building Design and Features
When the library was built, people described its style as a mix of "Doric" and "Ionian" architecture. Today, we call this style Beaux Arts. The famous architects Heins & LaFarge from New York City designed it. A local architect, Frederick A. Hale, helped supervise the building work.
The library had three floors and a grand entrance. It was made of a special type of limestone called oolite. The building had about 20,000 square feet of space. The roof had a unique shape with a large carved stone gable. This gable had an arched window and decorative columns. The entrance had curved sides with spiral staircases. Inside, the main reading room was large and open. The librarian's desk was made of steel with a golden oak top. On the top floor, there was a big auditorium that could seat 350 people.
Becoming the Hansen Planetarium
After the new library opened in 1964, the old building was empty. Gail Plummer, a professor and head of the library board, thought it would make a great planetarium. He talked to Mrs. Beatrice M. Hansen, whose husband, George T. Hansen, had passed away. Mrs. Hansen decided to fund the project.
Funding and Popularity
In 1965, Mrs. Hansen donated $400,000 to the city. This money was used to build the planetarium in memory of her husband. After Mrs. Hansen also passed away, the building was renamed the Mr. and Mrs. George T. Hansen Planetarium. It also included a Space Science Library and Museum.
The planetarium was very popular! About 20% of the city's population visited it. It had the highest attendance per person of any planetarium in the country. The Hansen Planetarium stayed open until April 2003. It eventually needed more space and was replaced by the Clark Planetarium in The Gateway.
Changes for the Planetarium
When the Hansen Planetarium moved in, some changes were made to the building. The center doors at the entrance were replaced with a large glass sheet. A fountain was added in the middle of the front steps. A new floor, called a mezzanine, was added above the second floor. This extra space was used for exhibits. The same company that did the original wood carvings in 1904 helped with these new additions. A local architect named Wesley Budd oversaw the work. A large dome was also added to the back of the building. This dome gave the planetarium more room for its exhibits.
The O. C. Tanner Company Renovation
After the planetarium moved out, the building was empty for four years. Then, in 2007, the O. C. Tanner Company bought it for $1.2 million. Before Tanner bought it, people had voted against funding the empty building twice. But O.C. Tanner's clear plan for the building got the votes it needed.
Restoring the Historic Building
The company spent two years and $24 million renovating the building. It finally reopened in September 2009. O.C. Tanner itself paid for most of the renovation, about $13–15 million. The rest of the money came from the community.
When O.C. Tanner bought the building, their team wanted to make it look as much like the original library as possible. Because of this, the large dome at the back of the building was removed. But they didn't just tear it down! They carefully took it apart piece by piece. Then, they donated it to another planetarium in Orderville, Utah. The front staircase was also restored to its original look. The fountain in the center was removed. Fun fact: that fountain had actually been donated by O. C. Tanner himself!
Modern Touches and Art
Only three of the building's original walls were kept: the two side walls and the front. The back wall had been changed by the Hansen Planetarium. There were no old photos of what the back wall looked like in 1905. This gave Curtis Bennett, a vice president at the company, some freedom with the design. The new back wall is made of glass and stone. Both are etched with images showing the building's history.
The back wall has the largest laser stone-carving project in the world! It has 18 panels covering 900 square feet and weighing 44,000 pounds. The bottom of the wall shows images from the library in 1905. The top has images of a galaxy, representing the Hansen Planetarium. The middle shows a picture of the company's founder, O.C. Tanner. The image on the glass is made of tiny dots. The stone images required a brand new process just for this building.
Inside, a new limestone spiral staircase was built. A beautiful "Flora Cascade" chandelier hangs in the center of the spiral. The chandelier was designed by Sharon Marston. It has about 4,000 strands of fiber optics, over 14,000 shapes made of white polymer and steel, and about 3,000 golden and amber glass leaves. This amazing chandelier weighs 243 pounds and stretches almost the entire height of the building, reaching 26.4 feet from the ceiling!
