A £5 MILLION planetarium and science museum could be part of a £100 million redevelopment of the Hungate area of York.

The idea was being put forward today at the beginning of a community planning weekend in the Guildhall which aims to come up with innovative ideas for the city centre site.

The 200-seat planetarium would use state-of-the-art computer-controlled image projection to show the night sky, the solar system and distant galaxies.

It would be able to take audiences on explorations of space, landings on the moon, orbits of Earth, or even through the rings of Saturn.

The multi-purpose domed auditorium will also be designed so it can be used for lectures, stage productions, exhibitions and even as a cinema. The development would also include a refreshment area and shops.

The Yorkshire Philosophical Society, which is behind the scheme, will be making its pitch today after developers Crosby Homes invited ideas from local people for a "mixed use housing, commercial and leisure scheme" on the Hungate site.

The society's vice-president, John Hampshire, said the planetarium would fit perfectly with the planning brief for the site, and could be an integral part of the overall development.

York astronomer Professor Michael Woolfson, former head of the Department of Physics at York University and a former President of the Philosophical Society, is backing the scheme.

"It would seem entirely appropriate that York, which is choosing to be a city of science, should have some kind of a science museum and that this should be associated with a planetarium," he said. "York is very good at portraying its past, but it would be nice to portray itself with a modern image as well."

The society said a planetarium, with an attached science exhibition centre, would be a big tourism draw - as well as providing an unrivalled educational and entertainment facility for York.

An earlier plan for a planetarium at Museum Gardens came to nothing after the city council began to prepare to hand over responsibility for the city's museums to a trust.

The society sees Hungate as the ideal opportunity to revive the dream - and insists with six million people living within an hour of York, it could be a paying proposition.

Mr Hampshire admitted plans were at an early stage. But if the proposal went down well, more detailed plans could be drawn up and applications for lottery and other funding begun.

Phil Darcy, managing director of Crosby Homes (Yorkshire) Ltd, said without seeing the proposals, it was difficult to comment. "We do, however, look forward to hearing the society's suggestion and can say that it will be taken into consideration alongside the other ideas that are brought forward by people attending the community planning event," he said.

Updated: 10:46 Friday, March 01, 2002