Nottinghamshire’s New £5 Million Planetarium Poised for Opening

A new £5 million planetarium in Nottinghamshire is scheduled to commence operations on Monday. Construction for the facility, located at Sherwood Observatory off Coxmoor Road in Sutton-in-Ashfield, started in August 2023. This new establishment will feature a 59-seat dome equipped with a 10-meter (32.8ft) diameter screen. Additionally, it will house an underground exhibition area within the site’s former Victorian reservoir. Dr. Steve Wallace, the project manager, commented: “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 site also incorporates a science discovery centre and a cafe, operated by the Academy Transformation Trust Further Education College as an outreach initiative for its students. Dr. Wallace elaborated that the new structure features a glass floor, enabling visitors to view the exhibition space within the old reservoir from above. He further stated: “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.” The observatory initially commenced operations in 1986 following over a decade of development, according to Dr. Wallace, as its construction was undertaken by founding members during their leisure time outside of their primary occupations. The Local Democracy Reporting Service reports that £2 million has been allocated to the project from Ashfield District Council’s £62.6 million Towns Fund, which was secured from the government in 2021. An additional £3.1 million was supplied via the government’s Levelling Up Fund in January 2023. Dr. Wallace mentioned: “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.” He further stated: “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.”