Old weather dome to star at Tamba Park

Friday 03 June 2016

An old weathered dome is soon to star as one of the most futuristic in the world.

Jersey Met's 25 year-old radar is on the move from La Moye to Tamba Park where it will become a planetarium.

The recycling team in the Department for Infrastructure and the Met Department had been on the hunt for a new home and a new use for this oddly-shaped piece of Island history.

They had loads of offers from Islanders wanting to give the iconic structure a second home but Tamba Park's plans to create a space room with the dome that they want to install near the park’s dinosaurs with the latest LED technology and lighting stole the show.

Tamba's owner Jonathan Ruff said: “I believe Tamba, which is all about the community, is best placed to rehome the dome; it’ll be erected in a permanent location for all our local visitors, members and tourists to see and enjoy every time they come to the park. 

“As a planetarium we will use special effects to project planets in 3D.  We hope to tell a story of how planet earth is just in the right place to support life and link this to climate change. If you have been up to Tamba, you can see we can create special things and we plan to do the same with the dome.”

Environment’s Principal Meteorological Officer John Searson said: "We were delighted with the response from the community. The applications were innovative and thoughtful and we had a tough time deciding between them. In the end, it came down to a question of how accessible and how permanent the new home would be and we think Tamba Park fitted the bill.”

The dome is now being dismantled and will soon be on the move to Tamba Park where work will start to make it one of their star attractions, subject to Planning giving it the go-ahead.