More film options coming for Saskatchewan Science Centre's IMAX theatre
Saskatchewan’s Science Centre was host to a giant delivery this week, promising to reinvigorate the province’s largest film screen.
A giant crane hoisted the 50 by 70 foot screen weighing 1,800 pounds off of its transport and into the IMAX Kramer Theatre through a window.
“The screen has to come in in one long crate. So its 52 feet long. It can’t be wrinkled, bent, anything. It comes in and slides into the top of the theatre,” Sandy Baumgartner, CEO of the centre told CTV News.
Trevor Ewan has been the chief projectionist at the IMAX for the last 25 years.
“New screen coming in, it’s exciting. Its nerve wracking as it was the last time the screen came in,” he said. “And it’s always weird to see something that expensive hanging in the middle of the air.”
It’s part of a $4 million conversion to digital projection at the Kramer IMAX.
“Up until now, our IMAX film projector has used Imax 15/70 millimeter film and that’s the only way that we’ve been able to show content in Imax format,” Ryan Holota, Chief Operating Officer at the Science Centre explained.
The new projection system is powered by 4,000 lasers and each is available for sponsorship as part of a fundraising campaign.
“The new laser projectors that we're installing will give us access to basically all the content that Imax is producing in digital formats, as well as other content not necessarily IMAX but in digital formats that we haven't been able to show,” Holota said.
“If you see on TV, and it says ‘now playing in IMAX,’ that's something that we might be able to show in our theatre.”
Updated equipment and more movie selection is something visitors have been anxious to see for years.
“That's probably been one of the number one requests that we've had,” Holota said. “The laser system will allow us to have more content, to change that content out more often, which will let people come back and enjoy those films a lot more often in the future.”
The entire facility is being revamped including the lobby, all the seats and the five storey tall screen.
But that’s not all, according to Holota.
“We have some permanent exhibits in the Science Centre that are going to be coming online also early in July, including an updated Richardson Agri-Land exhibit, which we're really excited about.”
The renovations to the centre will allow it to expand its services and help the non-profit achieve its goal.
“Our mission is to ignite scientific curiosity in Saskatchewan. We’re a tourism destination for southern Saskatchewan and the City of Regina and we know that we bring people in from all over North America and certainly all over Canada,” Holota said.
“A science centre is both an entertainment facility but it's also an educational facility. So, we sort of hit all these different targets and it’s very important for communities to have vibrant science centres.”
The new Kramer IMAX Theatre is set to have its first screening in early summer.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
BREAKING Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo's David raises questions about freedom of expression
Michelangelo's David has been a towering figure in Italian culture since its completion in 1504. But in the current era of the quick buck, curators worry the marble statue's religious and political significance is being diminished.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
China's latest EV is a 'connected' car from smart phone and electronics maker Xiaomi
Xiaomi, a well-known maker of smart consumer electronics in China, is joining the country's booming but crowded market for electric cars.