Ontario Science Centre celebrates 50th birthday with free admission

It was 50 years ago today — Sept. 26, 1969 — that the Ontario Science Centre first opened its doors.

The museum is celebrating its birthday by offering free admission all this weekend, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In 1964, the provincial government assigned architect Raymond Moriyama to design the Ontario Science Centre as a gift to the people of Ontario (Moriyama also worked on other well-known buildings including the Toronto Reference Library and Scarborough Civic Centre).

Five years later, on its opening day, a radio signal sent from over 1.5 billion light years away struck a circuit which raised the curtain and revealed the museum.

The Don Mills-area facility, one of the world’s first interactive science museums, estimates it has welcomed more than 53 million visitors since it opened — including countless school trips from GTA schools.