Closure
The McLaughlin Planetarium was closed on November 5, 1995. The president of the ROM stated that the closure of the planetarium was due to a combination of falling attendance and a declining interest in space, and that the closure was necessitated by provincial budget cuts. The decision came as a surprise to many, as attendance had rebounded in recent years, and the planetarium was one of few in North America at the time that was turning a profit. The closure meant that 40 people lost their jobs.
Despite the ROM citing lowered attendance figures, proponents of the planetarium have alleged that the Conservative Ontario provincial government of the time, led by Mike Harris, was looking for an instant and visible $600,000 cut to the ROM's operating budget.
Shortly after the announcement, the exhibits, seating and wiring were dismantled or removed. Some of the signs and paintings were recovered by the RASC, which had a permanent workspace located within the facility, and are now on display at the E.C. Carr Astronomical Observatory and at David Dunlap Observatory. The original Zeiss-Jena projector was bought as a museum piece by York University for the sum of $1, subsequently dismantled, and placed into storage. More recently, the University has offered the mothballed projector to other planetaria seeking parts to repair their existing electro-mechanical planetarium projectors.
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