The Longway Planetarium will hold a “Weekend of Wonder” grand reopening celebration May 30 and 31 after being closed for massive renovations.

The planetarium’s final show was Dec. 30, when it closed for its largest renovation since the first opening of the planetarium in 1958.

The renovations, totaling $1.8 million, stripped the planetarium down to concrete, replaced seats for a more comfortable feel, replaced the sound and lighting systems, and much more. The planetarium will now give visitors a better view of the dome.

The reopening of the planetarium will unveil Longway’s new full-dome theater, where high-definition videos will be viewable across the entire dome, similar to an IMAX screen.

According to Mr. Jeffrey “Buddy” Stark, Longway’s manager, the planetarium can do much more than astronomy now.

Longway can now produce photo-realistic 3-D models onto the dome, meaning that the planetarium can now be used for all types of media events.

Stark said that guests will be immersed when they go to the new Longway.

“The new dome is tilted downward, so when you sit in the theater you feel like you are inside the dome rather than looking up at it,” Stark said. “This means that when a prehistoric water dino jumps out at you — yeah, that’s going to happen — it really feels like it’s jumping out at you.”

All shows during the last weekend in May will be free to the public, complements of ITC Holdings. The shows will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, so guests should arrive early.

The new theater will play four shows during the Weekend of Wonder.

The first show, called “Perfect Little Planet,” is a show about a family of aliens that visit the solar system.

The second is “To Space and Back,” which is about the technology brought forth when investing in a space program.

The third is “Violent Universe,” a show all about different catastrophes out there in the universe.

The fourth is “Sea Monsters,” which is about underwater dinosaurs.

Showtimes can be found on SloanLongway’s website.

To see photos of the renovations on Longway’s Facebook page, click here.

For more on Longway's renovations

Longway Planetarium to undergo massive renovations