Hansen Planetarium
What was Old Hansen Planetarium used for from 1965 to 2003?
Old Hansen Planetarium The Old Hansen Planetarium at 15 South State Street in Salt Lake City , Utah has served many functions throughout its history . Originally built in 1904 as the Salt Lake City Public Library , the building was renovated in 1965 to become the Hansen Planetarium . After the planetarium closed and was replaced by the Clark Planetarium in 2003 , the building was remodeled into the O.C . Tanner Company Flagship jewelry store , which opened in 2009 . The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 . Salt Lake City Public Library . The first public library in Salt Lake City opened in 1898 and was located in the top floor of the Salt Lake City and County Building . After the library quickly outgrew the venue , the city began looking for a location to build a new library . A group of women called the Ladies Literary Society helped out by persuading the mining millionaire John Quackenbos Packard to donate land and money for the new building , which cost $100,000 at the time . The new library opened in 1905 with librarian Joanna Sprague , for whom the Sprague branch of the Salt Lake City Public Library system , also listed on the National Register of Historic Places , is now named . The building would continue to serve as the main branch library until October 1964 , when a new library building was constructed at 209 East 500 South . When the building was constructed , it was described as a combination of the Doric and Ionian styles of architecture , and would later be classified in the Beaux Arts style . It was designed by Heins & LaFarge of New York City , and the local supervising architect was Frederick A . Hale . The library was three stories tall with a two-story entrance pavilion constructed of oolite limestone and of floor space . The roof was slightly flared , and the roofline was broken by a large carved stone gable with a center arched window and four decorated pilasters . The entrance pavilions sides were curved around the spiral staircases at both ends of the entrance foyer . The pavilion was divided into three sections by four columns ; each bay contained oak double doors leading to the foyer . After going through the foyer , the main reading room is revealed . In the center of the room stood a librarians desk made of steel and topped by golden oak , the same finish of the interior of the entrance foyer . On the upper floor , the main auditorium contained seating for 350 people . Hansen Planetarium . After the new library was constructed in 1964 , Gail Plummer , professor of speech and drama at the University of Utah and chairman of the Salt Lake City Library board , expressed interest in converting the old library into a planetarium . Plummer had several conversations with Mrs . Beatrice M . Hansen , wife of the late George T . Hansen , in which Mrs . Hansen decided to fund the project . In 1965 she donated $400,000 to the city to build the planetarium in memory of her deceased husband . After Mrs . Hansens death the building was renamed the Mr . and Mrs . George T . Hansen Planetarium , Space Science Library and Museum in honor of the couple . During its operation , the planetarium attracted 20% of the population of the city and had the highest per capita attendance of any planetarium in the nation . The Hansen Planetarium continued operation until April 2003 , when it outgrew the building and was replaced by the Clark Planetarium in The Gateway . When the Hansen Planetarium occupied the building , the center doors of the entrance pavilion were replaced by a large sheet of glass , and the center part of the steps was replaced with a fountain . A mezzanine was added above the second floor in the entrance pavilion for exhibit in the planetarium . The same firm that did the original millwork for the 1904 building worked on these new additions . The local architect for the additions was Wesley Budd . A large dome was also added onto the rear wall of the building to give the planetarium extra space for its exhibits . O . C . Tanner Company . After four years of lying vacant , the O . C . Tanner Company bought the building in 2007 for $1.2 million . Before Tanner came along , two referendums to fund the empty building were rejected , but the jeweling companys clear plan got the votes it needed . The company spent two years and $24 million renovating the building , which opened in September 2009 . The company itself supplied a majority of the funds ( $13–15 million ) , and the remainder came from the community . Upon the companys purchase of the building , O.C . Tanners staff decided to try to mimic the original architecture as closely as possible . Because of this , the dome at the rear of the building was removed . Instead of simply demolishing the dome , however , it was systematically dismantled and donated to the Zions Gateway to the Stars planetarium in Orderville , Utah . Also , the front staircase was restored to its original condition by removing the fountain in the center , which , coincidentally , was donated by O . C . Tanner himself . Only three of the four walls—the sides and front—were preserved in Tanners restoration . Since the back had already been altered by the Hansen Planetarium and there were no original images of that wall from the 1905 building , Curtis Bennett , vice president of the companys retail operations , was allowed a little freedom with that design . The rear wall now consists of glass and stone , both etched with images of the buildings history . The rear wall contains the largest laser stone-carving project in the world with 18 panels covering and weighing in all . The bottom of the rear wall contains repeated images from the library in 1905 , the top contains images of a galaxy ( signifying the Hansen Planetarium ) , and the middle contains an image of the founder of the company , O.C . Tanner . The image on the glass is a dot-matrix image , but the stone imaging required a new process developed specifically for this building . Inside the building , a new limestone spiral staircase was built with a Flora Cascade chandelier hanging in the center of the spiral . The chandelier was designed by Sharon Marston and includes about 4,000 strands of fiber optics , more than 14,000 interwoven shapes made of white polymer and steel , and about 3,000 golden and amber glass leaves . Weighing and extending from the ceiling , the chandelier stretches nearly the entire height of the building . External links . - O . C . Tanner company website