text image credit Toronto Star
1st part of the story from The Star,
A campaign to save the McLaughlin Planetarium, slated for demolition on the University of Toronto campus, is gaining momentum.
In its prime, the planetarium was a standard field trip for generations of Toronto school kids to learn about the magic of the universe. Others fondly recall the laser shows in the 1980s, featuring music from Led Zeppelin, U2, Rush and Pink Floyd.
“It is absolutely one of the most significant works of architecture built in the 20th century in Toronto, not only for its own formal esthetic merits but because of the cultural role that it played and the history of that building as a public venue,” said Jeff Balmer, associate professor at the School of Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
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BlogTo’s take and a bit of their article with some other info.
text image credit, BlogTO, http://www.blogto.com
The Ontario Science Centre has a planetarium but it pales in size compared to McLaughlin, which served an educational purpose first and foremost (stoner trips to see the Pink Floyd laser light show were secondary, though fun). That purpose, argues Balmer, has never been more important.
“In a post-fact world, where the fundamental principals of scientific knowledge is being undermined, public planetariums like those in New York, Chicago, L.A., (and once upon a time, Toronto) are significant standard bearers for science education and a bulwark against attempts to undermine public confidence in science.”
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