Read the Runners-up in the 2007 Legacy/Galileo Student Heritage Essay Contest

Jenna Geldart, a Grade 7 student at St. Rose Junior High in Edmonton submitted the runner-up for the junior high essay.

Edmonton’s Hidden Gem: The Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium

by Jenna Geldart

What do you think of when you hear the words “historical building?” Do you think of a house with no running water? No electricity? Do you imagine your grandmother’s house? A house that is extremely small and out of date? No matter what you think, some buildings that you think as modern are now eligible as historic buildings. These buildings are featured in a book called Capital Modern— A Guide to Architecture and Urban Design 1940­–1969. Remember the Edmonton Art Gallery building? Consider the Jubilee Auditorium. The Paramount Theatre. The Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium. It is one of Edmonton’s most distinctive buildings, yet so few people know about it.

The Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium is nestled away in Coronation Park, not far from Coronation Pool, or the Peter Hemingway Fitness and Leisure Centre, as it is now known.The planetarium was built in 1959, so it is now roughly 48 years old. Before I tell you more about the planetarium, let’s start with the definition of a planetarium. According to Funk and Wagnall’s Standard College Dictionary, it is: 1. An apparatus for exhibiting the features of the heavens as they exist at any time and any place on the Earth, consisting of an array of suitably mounted stereopticons installed in a room having a circular dome. 2. A room or building having such an apparatus. 3. An apparatus or model representing the planetary system.

The Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium fits this definition and was no different than other planetariums. It was built with a large dome in the centre. The building itself has a circular diameter of 18.3 metres and an interior area of slightly under 186 square metres. The planetarium was built using hewn field stone on the northwest and southwest quadrants, while the northeast and southeast quadrants have been glazed with glass set in gold anodized aluminum frames. The floor of the planetarium includes variegated hardwood and terrazzo. At one point in time, the now silver dome was painted orange. At the rear of the building there are trees but at the front, embedded into the concrete are twelve zodiac constellation mosaics of Leo, Taurus, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Pisces, Virgo, Libra, Aquarius, Scorpio,Gemini, Cancer, and Aries. This was the idea of Edmonton artist Henrich Eichner.

The planetarium was named after Queen Elizabeth II. It was built to recognize Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Edmonton in 1959, with Prince Phillip. Queen Elizabeth II gave her permission for the building to be named in her honour while she was here.

This modern building is important to our community because of its significance as a planetarium. It is the first known Canadian planetarium to be built by a municipal government. Most planetariums were built by either the federal or provincial governments.Unfortunately, its importance in our community has gone down because it is no longer in public use. Today it is used an an office and storage building. I hope that from now on, when you think of a heritage building, you no longer think only of your grandmother’s old house. Modern buildings like the Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium are equally important and must one day be preserved for future generations.