 In November 1964 Canadian businessman Colonel R. Samuel McLaughlin announced plans for donating money directly towards establishing a planetarium in Toronto . He was inspired by the recent construction of the Hayden Planetarium in New York , named after Charles Hayden , who had been a friend and associate on the board of International Nickel . McLaughlin donated $ 2 million for the building 's construction , and gave an additional $ 1 @.@ 15 million as an ongoing endowment . The University of Toronto , which owned and operated the Royal Ontario Museum prior to becoming a separate , provincially funded body , donated land adjacent to the museum . The building was constructed in an area that had formerly been a park belonging to the museum , and also required the demolition of a mansion at 86 Queens Park that had been the residence for the President of the University of Toronto . 
