National Planetarium shuts down

MANILA, Philippines — The 46-year-old National Planetarium will temporarily be closed to give way to the development of Rizal Park.

In its Facebook page, the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) announced on Monday that the building, which opened on Oct. 8, 1975, would be decommissioned.

“There are times in the life of a beloved institution where a long chapter has to be brought to a close in order to start a new one, for a new contemporary world and a new set of generations of Filipinos,” the NMP said.

“Thus it is, with a measure of sadness, fondness and nostalgia – but also with anticipation and excitement for its future, that we announce the temporary closure of the National Planetarium as an institution and the decommissioning of its 46-year-old premises in the central section of Rizal Park, Manila,” it added.

The NMP also said that with the retirement of the National Planetarium building, which has served both as a landmark and a pillar of the NMP, it is making plans for a new and world-class National Planetarium.

The National Planetarium building’s decommissioning will give way to development plans of the National Parks Development Committee for the central and western sections of Rizal Park.

The NMP, on the other hand, will take over the eastern section of Rizal Park, where it intends to build a National Museum complex consisting of the National Museum of Anthropology and National Museum of Natural History around Agrifina Circle, as well as a National Museum of Fine Arts, as mandated by its charter Republic Act 11333.