By Sharon Kennedy Wynne, Tampa Bay Times The Tribune Content Agency
Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry is transforming its former IMAX dome theater into the second-largest planetarium in the country.
The old theater's screen has been replaced by a high-tech porous metal screen that will show super-sharp images across an eight-story dome theater. Images will wrap around the viewers while sound is pumped from all around.
The theater will be powered by 10 huge digital projectors that will have 8K technology for a much sharper and brighter movie experience than has ever been seen in the Tampa Bay area, MOSI leaders said.
"We're talking about pull-you-in and blow-your-mind educational fun," said MOSI CEO John Graydon Smith. "Our eight-story-tall screen will surround you with science, with 360-degree movies and the second-largest digital dome planetarium in America."
A museum spokesman said it will open in the first half of 2025 and will likely have a separate admission charge, though that hasn't been determined yet.
It has so far cost $4 million to invest in the new technology and facilities for the Digital Dome Theatre.
"Depending on additional facilities, such as learning labs and dining options, the total investment in the iconic blue dome building could reach up to $10 million over the next few years," a MOSI statement said.
A combination of foundation funding, private donations and county government funding have been used, and more will be raised to cover the whole cost, a spokesman said. An increased focus on STEM - science, technology, engineering and math - in education fueled their plans.
"We believe in the power of STEM learning to transform lives," Smith said. "This investment at MOSI will give students in Tampa Bay the biggest and best STEM learning destination anywhere in the southeastern U.S."
Control system Digistar 7 is considered the industry's most powerful and advanced planetarium projection system. It has a vast library of images to let the audience view the sky and then zoom up to a nebula or any planet, seeing the real image.
MOSI plans to offer star shows, tours of the night sky where you can see the constellations and zoom in with new images made available from the James Webb Space Telescope or Hubble Space Telescope images, enhanced by computer graphics. They could even see it being rented out for corporate events or weddings where you could recreate the night sky.
"The other half are the 360-degree movies that can be shown that can take you into outer space, or take you into the ocean with ultra-bright high-resolution views designed for this format," said Smith. "This will be the biggest and best field trip destination in the state."
The IMAX screen has been entirely replaced by a NanoSeam screen, a high-quality screen that eliminates visible seams between the screen panels so viewers will no longer see any lines, making for an even better, more immersive experience.
Consider that MOSI's current Saunders Planetarium has a diameter of 30 feet and seats 46 people. The new Digital Dome Theater has a diameter of 82 feet and a seating capacity of more than 300 people, who will be watching a quarter of an acre of screen space.
"You are going to have an eight-story screen wrapping those images around you. It's bonkers," said Smith.
1. Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium, Jersey City, New Jersey
Diameter: 88.5 feet (27 meters)
2. MOSI's new Saunders Planetarium and Digital Dome Theatre, Tampa, Florida
Diameter: 82 feet (25 meters)
3. Morrison Planetarium, San Francisco, California
Diameter: 75 feet (22.9 meters)
4. Samuel Oschin Planetarium's Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, California
Diameter: 75 feet (22.9 meters)
5. Grainger Sky Theater's Adler Planetarium, Chicago, Illinois