TAMPA -- A Tampa landmark is set to reopen next year with new technology.
The Museum of Science and Industry's Domed Theater, formerly used to show IMAX movies, will reopen next year as a much larger version of the Saunders Planetarium. It'll become the second-largest planetarium in the nation, just behind the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium in Jersey City, NJ, with a diameter of 82 feet and more than three hundred seats.
The dome closed in 2017 and CEO John Graydon Smith says it's time to reopen it and give a new generation of children the chance to enjoy a widescreen viewing experience. The facility will again show movies, with an 82-foot diameter, more than 10-thousand square feet screen, a digital system that can provide 8K images, and an immersive 360-degree experience.
Local leaders are touting the new theater-planetarium as a unique STEM-focused experience for students.
The renovated theater is set to open sometime in 2025, pending construction and fundraising, which is still ongoing.
Photo: MOSI