Things Are Looking Up for Mérida Planetarium at the Olimpo

For more than two decades, a domed room tucked inside the Centro Cultural Olimpo — right on the Plaza Grande — has been one of Mérida’s quiet cultural treasures. The Planetario Arcadio Poveda Ricalde has introduced generations of schoolchildren and curious visitors to the mechanics of the cosmos, the formations of distant galaxies, and the astronomical traditions of the ancient Maya. Now, after years of dormancy, it’s getting a serious overhaul.

Mérida Mayor Cecilia Patrón Laviada announced last week that the city has signed an agreement with the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México — better known as the UNAM — to restore and modernize the planetarium’s projection system. The project will directly involve Yucatecan students, with a public call for applicants expected shortly.

“Our city deserves a good planetarium, and what we are looking for is to recover this space,” Patrón Laviada said.

The estimated investment is between MX$1.5 and MX$2 million (roughly US$73,000 to US$97,000). Students selected through the UNAM process will spend about 4 months on the project. The city will fund the hardware; the students, guided by UNAM, will handle the design. Patrón Laviada said the goal is to have the renovated space open to the public by September.

A space with deep roots

Construction on the Centro Cultural de Mérida began Jan. 6, 1997, and was meant to include a planetarium from the start. When the complex was completed, however, the planetarium sat idle — there was no modern projection system to run it. It took several more years and a private sponsor — Bepensa, the local Coca-Cola bottler — to make it operational. The facility finally opened in September 2003, equipped with a Digistar 3 SP system manufactured by Evans and Sutherland in Utah, which was the first fully digital planetarium system installed in Latin America.

With a capacity of 78 spectators, the planetarium was designed to spark interest in science — astronomy in particular — among children and young people, while also offering virtual journeys through the cosmos and even through the human body.

The planetarium bears the name of one of Mexico’s most distinguished astronomers. Renán Arcadio Poveda Ricalde was born in Mérida on July 15, 1930, and left the Yucatán Peninsula in 1947 to study theoretical physics and mathematics at the UNAM, since no comparable program existed locally at the time. He went on to become a pioneer in astrophysics, recognized internationally for his research on galactic mass and the evolution of binary stars. He also served as director of the Instituto de Astronomía, played a key role in developing the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional at San Pedro Mártir, and co-founded the Academia Mexicana de Ciencias in 1959. Poveda died in 2022.

The planetarium has been closed since the pandemic, lacking the funds needed to replace its main projection equipment. The mayor acknowledged that the machines had not been working for several years, prompting the city to seek the UNAM partnership.

Students as builders

What distinguishes this restoration is its hands-on model. Rather than contracting the work to a private firm, the city and UNAM plan to recruit local students to design and implement the upgrades. The UNAM will lead the selection process and provide technical guidance; the city will purchase the necessary components.

Patrón Laviada described it as an opportunity to connect young meridanos to a project of civic and scientific significance — a fitting echo of Arcadio Poveda’s own path, which began with a young man in Mérida who couldn’t find a place to study physics at home.

Details of the public call for student participants are expected to be announced soon by the Ayuntamiento de Mérida.

Planetario Arcadio Poveda Ricalde

• Location: Centro Cultural Olimpo, Calle 62 s/n, esq. Calle 61, Centro Histórico, Mérida
• Named for: Dr. Arcadio Poveda Ricalde (1930–2022), astrophysicist and Mérida native
• Opened: September 2003
• Capacity: 78 spectators
• Status: Closed; renovation expected to be completed by September 2026
• Project budget: MX$1.5–2 million (approx. US$73,000–US$97,000)
• Partners: Ayuntamiento de Mérida and UNAM