Karin Dowling remembers manning the tills on opening day at the Edmonton Space Sciences Centre.
It was 25 years ago, and the place was packed. "It was crazy," Dowling recalls. "We didn't even have tills. We were working out of cash boxes." But that didn't stop hordes of local science fans from swamping the building.
"People were so excited to have something so unique," she says. "It looked like we were a spaceship."
Dowling, a St. Albert resident, is one of a handful of people who have worked at what is now called the Telus World of Science since it opened in 1984. Now the centre's director of human resources, she'll be joining in on the festivities this July 1 when the centre celebrates its 25th anniversary.
The centre plans to launch 25 rockets that day, Dowling says, and will give away cake and 25 family memberships. It will also charge its original 1984 admission prices.
Many changes
Dowling says she started at the centre when she was 15 when it was still based at the nearby Queen Elizabeth Planetarium. "When I was there I probably filled five different roles," she says, selling tickets, manning the gift shop and more. They could cram just 65 people into the place — less than half the capacity of the Margaret Zeidler theatre.
The current building, designed by Douglas Cardinal, opened in 1984. The IMAX theatre was just a few paces from the front door back then, Dowling recalls. A long, curved ramp took you upstairs to the space exhibit.
The centre used to have a tall radio tower by its front entrance, Dowling notes, but they shortened and moved it during the 2001 renovations. A portion of the tower now serves as a wind turbine near Highways 633 and 779.
It also had a large pond out front. "At least once a month someone would accidentally drive into it," she says, and had to be towed out.
The centre used to use its own staff members when filming its science shows, Dowling says. She got her 15 minutes of fame when the staff needed someone to play a tourist with a broken leg — she got the call because she had injured her ankle. "One day one of my kids came home and she said, 'I just saw you! I saw your big head on the screen!'"
The centre changed its name to the Edmonton Space & Science Centre in 1990 to reflect its broader focus, according to a press release. A $14-million renovation in 2001 added a large yellow-coloured wing and changed the centre's name to The Odyssium. The name changed yet again in 2005 to the Telus World of Science.
Old classics
One thing that hasn't changed is the moon rock, says Frank Florian, the centre's director of space sciences. Displayed in the space exhibit, it was the first piece of moon rock in Canada to be put on permanent display. The rock was so valuable, he says, the lady who brought it over the border in 1984 had to keep it chained to her wrist. "The customs people charged us $1 for duty," he adds.
Another constant is the centre's lunar-lander game, whose high-tech vector-based graphics would put an Intellivision to shame. It's still running on its original circuit boards, Florian says, and the kids still love it.
Science has made huge strides in the last 25 years, Florian says, especially when it comes to information technology. "I was happy when I had my Sony Walkman back in the 1980s," he says. Now, he can have an MP3 player that can carry his entire library of music. The centre has advanced to keep pace as well, expanding to cover forensic, health and environmental sciences.
Dowling says bringing her kids to the centre gives her new perspective on the place. "You take it for granted when you work here until you get to see it through someone else's eyes."
The festivities start at 10 a.m. July 1.
