McLaughlin Planetarium, Former planetarium at Queen's Park, Toronto, Canada
The McLaughlin Planetarium was a domed observatory building in Toronto equipped with a Zeiss projection system that showed astronomy programs about stars and planets. The facility included hands-on exhibits with globes and interactive displays for visitors to learn about space.
The facility opened in 1968 after Colonel R. Samuel McLaughlin donated funds to establish it in 1964. It operated for decades before closing in 1995, when the building transitioned to storage use for the Royal Ontario Museum.
The facility contained an Astrocentre with hands-on exhibits, astronomical globes, and interactive displays that educated visitors about space and celestial phenomena.
The site is no longer open to the public since it closed in 1995 and the building now serves institutional purposes on the university campus. Those interested in learning about its history can visit the exterior or explore archival records from the University of Toronto.
During the 1980s the facility added laser light shows synchronized with music, which brought new audiences to astronomy presentations. This technical innovation turned traditional star shows into spectacles that appealed beyond dedicated astronomy enthusiasts.
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