I recently did a post on attempts by the Town of Richmond Hill to hang onto the David Dunlop Observatory. The University of Toronto has declared the facility surplus and are putting the observatory, and the 75 hectares of parkland surrounding it, up for sale to the highest bidder. Despite support by the town through restrictions on lighting and emissions that might cloud its view of the night sky, urban growth around the observatory has reduced its scientific value.
But the property is worth up to $100 million on the open market. Which is money the town doesn't have. They ideas on frustrating the sale and development of the property but at the end of the day its going to happen.
There are a number of groups that have joined the fight. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada would like to see it become a community observatory to provide astronomy outreach and education.
Another group is called Save the David Dunlop Observatory. They want to see the David Dunlap Observatory preserved as a historic landmark, an operating observatory for scientific research, and a natural landscape for the people of the GTA to enjoy. Except its been acknowledged that the facility is obsolete as a working observatory.
Then there is the Richmond Hill Naturalists. They see the need to preserve the site for greenspace as there is so little of it in the southern section of the town.
All I know is this is going to drag on for years.
1 comment:
Hi -- thanks for the additional focus the on the DDO issue. The Richmond Hill Naturalists support the preservation of our Town's largest remaining green space _and_ the continued operation of the Observatory, preferably with both research and outreach components. To say the DDO is "obsolete" is really not accurate. The U of T has shifted it's research interests toward extragalactic study, this should not detract from the near-star work that is done at DDO. DDO astronomers contributed 19 peer-reviewed papers in 2006. If anyone is interested preserving the DDO, they can sign our petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/savetheddo/
You are right -- funding will take some time to assemble. But U of T can cancel the sale at any time. in fact, U of T owes taxpayers time -- time to put together a public funding deal that would save the Observatory and the land on which it sits.
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