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New £5m planetarium ready to open its doors

BBC The planetarium screen showing half of the earth and surrounding starsBBC
The planetarium screen is 10 metres (32.8ft) in diameter

A brand new £5m planetarium is set to open in Nottinghamshire on Monday.

Work on Sherwood Observatory off Coxmoor Road in Sutton-in-Ashfield began back in August 2023.

The new facility will include a 59-seat dome with a 10 metre (32.8ft) diameter screen, as well as an underground exhibition space in the old Victorian reservoir on site.

Dr Steve Wallace, project manager, said: "It's taken a long time to get to this point and I have to say standing here in the new building looking around it's exceeded all of our expectations."

The planetarium in use with a view of the earth and computer screens with a person looking at them
The planetarium uses real physics to simulate the universe and downloads data from space agencies such as NASA

There is also a science discovery centre and a cafe which is run by the Academy Transformation Trust Further Education College as an outreach project for its students.

Dr Wallace explained the new building had a glass floor that allowed you to stand at the top and look down into the exhibition space in the old reservoir.

He added: "We've got some exhibitions being set up at the moment. One of those is about the history of human spaceflight and another is about the history of the reservoir itself."

Dr Steve Wallace wearing a brown chequed shirt standing in front of displays at the observatory
Dr Steve Wallace praised the passion of the volunteers that helped secure the required funding for the project

The observatory first opened in 1986 after more than a decade of work, Dr Wallace said, as it had to be built in the spare time of the founding members around their day jobs.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service £2m has been invested into the project from Ashfield District Council's £62.6m Towns Fund pot, secured from the government in 2021.

Blue banners with information about space travel in the old Victorian reservoir which has red brick walls, ceiling and floor.
The old Victorian reservoir will be used as exhibition space

A further £3.1m was provided through the government Levelling Up Fund in January 2023.

Dr Wallace said: "One of the big draws in the observatory which we're keeping despite all of this new development is that we have one of the biggest public access telescopes in the UK.

"Our building is fully accessible with a changing places toilet and a lift to all levels, so we've tried to remove every barrier that we can as regards accessibility."

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