Frank Lloyd Wright’s only completed planetarium has reopened to the public following a nearly six-year restoration and technological overhaul. Located within the Polk County Science Building at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, it had remained inactive since its projector failed in 2004.
Constructed between 1954 and 1958, the planetarium presented its first show in 1960. Although initially conceived as an observatory, that plan was abandoned because of Florida’s sun. Wright had also proposed a planetarium for a Maryland complex in the 1920s, but that project was never built.
Restoration proceeded from the exterior inward: crews installed a new roof, sealed the building against water, and replaced more than 280 custom-made tiles along its edges. Inside the 60-seat theater, they repainted the walls and refurbished the dark red floor. Removing a later addition—a computer closet—allowed the team to reinstate the original circular seating arrangement.
The planetarium’s audiovisual equipment was entirely replaced, updating a system that had previously used eight-track tapes. With the renovation complete, the theater will regularly screen immersive public programs, including “Cosmic Adventure” and “Destination Mars: The New Frontier.”
The project forms part of a broader effort, underway since 2007, to restore the college’s Wright buildings. Wright first visited the campus in 1936 and subsequently envisioned a design combining sand-colored concrete with stained glass. He contributed 12 buildings between 1938 and 1958; a 13th was completed after his death, giving the campus the world’s largest single-site collection of his architecture.
