U. of T. Buys Old McLaughlin Planetarium Land From ROM For $22 Million
Posted January 26, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It doesn’t have quite the cachet of Ryerson University taking over Sam the Record Man, but a Toronto institution is about to fall into the hands of another famous local school.
The University of Toronto reached an agreement with the Royal Ontario Museum Monday to buy the land at 90 Queen’s Park Crescent, home of the long shuttered McLaughlin Planetarium. The price: $22 million.
The outer space star gazing facility operated to much fanfare from 1965-1995, but lagging attendance eventually led to it being shut down. It’s sat there ever since, an extremely valuable piece of property near Bloor St. en route to University Ave.
But outside of a storage facility and office space for the ROM, it hasn’t seen the light of day – or night – for over a decade.
The U. of T. will use the old site for what a press release calls “academic and institutional purposes,” and gives the century-old plus school a development site in the heart of its sprawling St. George campus.
“This is a win-win-win for the U. of T., the ROM and the public,” boasts school president David Naylor in a statement. “This acquisition will deliver long-term benefits to our students and our community and provide much-needed room for expansion of U of T’s academic facilities.”
The ROM will use the money to help fund its ongoing renovation and expansion.
It’s pretty much a done deal, although there is one final hurdle in the race for a different kind of space: the City Of Toronto must still give its OK before the final transfer can take place.
Ryerson University bought the famous Sam The Record Man store at Yonge and Gould Sts. last year and will convert it to school use – but has promised to keep and restore the iconic spinning records sign once the renovations are complete.
Photo courtesy of Captmondo, Wikipedia
