Montreal Planetarium to close doors next week
Posted Oct 6, 2011 02:50:26 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
After helping six million people reach for the stars, the Montreal Planetarium will close its doors next week.
Astronomer Pierre Chastenay says when it opened on April 1, 1966, the Dow planetarium was a huge success.
More than 300-thousand people visited that year, lured by the images of the night sky splashed onto the planetarium’s dome by a huge projector.
The U.S.-Soviet space race had captured the public’s interest, and people were excited to hear the latest news in space exploration.
Chastenay admits attendance has been down the past few years and the old planetarium’s technology has become outdated.
He and his team are now concentrating on creating exhibits and shows for a new, more modern planetarium.
The Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, with its two star theatres, is expected to open in Montreal’s Olympic park in the spring of 2013.
