Planning

Edmonton City Council was, in 1958, presented with a proposal to build a permanent civic memorial to mark the visit of Canada's then-monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, and her husband, Prince Philip, in July of the following year. Originally, it was thought to symbolize the three areas of government by placing three projects or, more likely, a three-sided obelisk, on a 30.8 metre (94 foot) trilon. Another suggestion was a fountain, and the park itself. However, after Alderman Frederick John Mitchell proposed that an observatory be built, S. Frank Page, the Assistant Secretary and Editor of Stardust, the newsletter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Edmonton Centre, suggested in November 1958 that a planetarium would be more useful, as he anticipated that city lights would interfere with an observatory.^[2]

On 21 December 1958, H.J. McKim Ross, of the Montgomery Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, made to City Council a motion supporting the project in principle. This was passed unanimously. A committee was then formed—consisting of Professor E.S. Keeping, Professor Gads, Franklin Loehde, F. Jersen, D. Rosenfield, and Earl Milton—to put together a submission to Council. This was approved by the Finance Committee in March, with an estimated cost of $110,000, and, on 9 March, the proposal to construct a planetarium in Coronation Park was confirmed by City Council by a margin of seven to four.^[2]

The Queen visited the site during her cross-Canada tour in July of that year.^[2] William Hawrelak, Mayor of Edmonton, said to her at the event,

you have now set foot on an area of Canadian soil that was named in honour of your coronation [...] In commemoration of this royal visit [...] it is the wish of your loyal and devoted people to erect a building of masonry, brick, and stone at this location; a structure that will serve during the years ahead as a practical and pleasurable monument to perpetuate the memory of this great occasion. The aesthetic value of this planetarium will soon give the development of the Canadian parkland, an additional beauty dedicated to the welfare and convenience of our citizens. May it always be in keeping with the spirit in which you come to us: friendly, warm hearted, and sincere.

We respectfully request your Majesty’s permission to name this building The Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium. In your presence today, we humbly demonstrate our allegiance, our gratitude, and our affection.^[2]

Opening

A fragment of the Bruderheim Meteorite

The official opening ceremonies were held on 22 September 1960. The Mayor, by then Elmer Ernest Roper, dedicated the building and a message of congratulations from the Queen's Secretary was read by C.J. Forward, Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta. Professor E.S. Keeping represented the University of Alberta and presented to the Planetarium a 68 pound fragment of the Bruderheim Meteorite, which was made the centrepiece of the building's astronomical display. Also present was the then-President of the Edmonton Centre branch of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, James Harrington.^[2]

The Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium was designed to be the main focal point of Coronation Park. At the time of its construction, and for a few years afterward, the Planetarium was the only structure in Coronation Park.^[1] It was also the first such public facility in Canada. The second would not open until 1966, in Montreal. During the first five years of the Planetarium's operation, much of the work was done by volunteers from the Royal Astronomical Society. Eventually, a full-time lecturer and receptionist had to be hired.^[2][3] The Planetarium was, however, hampered by a seating capacity of only 65.^[1]

Closure and restoration

The Queen Elizabeth Planetarium in October 2016. The building is surrounded by a wire fence due to its dilapidation.

The facility closed at the end of 1983, superseded by the adjacent Edmonton Space Sciences Centre (now the Telus World of Science), which opened earlier that year.^[4][2][1] The Planetarium thereafter remained vacant, falling into a poor state of repair.^[1]

Two separate applications were submitted to the Historical Resources Development Board by Dale Nosko and Howard Gibbins in late 2004. With the assistance of Robert Geldart, these were passed by the Historical Resources Review Panel 31 on May 2005 and the Edmonton Historical Board in late June, both bodies agreeing that the building should be added to the A List of Municipal Historic Resources within Edmonton, which was done by the General Manager of the Planning and Development Department. The city announced In November 2016 plans to restore the Planetarium and grant it full heritage status,^[5] doing so in March 2017.^[5][6]

With a budget of seven million dollars,^[7] the Planetarium was originally scheduled to be restored and open by the end of 2019, in time for the 2020 International Planetarium Society Conference to be held in Edmonton.^[1] The reopening was later pushed back to the spring of 2020^[8] and again, because of delays due to restrictions in place during the COVID-19 pandemic,^[7] to the autumn of 2021.^[9] The Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium reopened to the public on 28 September 2023, with its first director, Ian McLennan, as the first person to enter. As it is a relatively small planetarium, the intended audience is young students; though, the facility can also be rented for private events.^[7]

The rehabilitation was intended to honour the heritage, historical, and architectural importance of the original exterior, while increasing the interior's functionality.^[10] Accessibility and sustainability were integrated into the redesign along with the use of period-accurate materials and aesthetics.^[7] In 2021, the Queen Elizabeth Planetarium restoration received one of eight national awards from the National Trust.^[10]