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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Montauk Observatory seeks home for $30G telescope

An independent astronomy group is getting sandbagged by county red tape in building an observatory for the public:

Photo credit: Doug Kuntz | Dr Mike Inglis, left, Terry Bienstock, and Sean Tvelia stand with the Meade telescope in Montauk.

From Newsday.com...

"The $30,000 telescope a Montauk astronomy group bought is a marvel, a high-powered instrument for seeing deep into space from the darkness of Long Island's eastern tip.

Now, it just needs a home.

For four years, the nonprofit Montauk Observatory has raised money to put up a building it designed to house the telescope. They're asking Suffolk County to let them put it in Theodore Roosevelt Park in Montauk or another South Fork park and have scaled back the project to satisfy officials.

And this week, with the Perseid meteor shower attracting the attention of Islanders who normally don't think about physics, volunteers will wheel out the 800-pound Meade telescope Saturday night so the public can visit the observatory that doesn't exist.

"This kind of event raises awareness and connects people with the universe," said observatory education director Tom Madigan of Patchogue.

The problems arose even before the telescope arrived in 2006. Suffolk demanded the group get a $1 million liability policy. For a while, it also requested that revenue from the telescope go through the county, even though the observatory won't charge admission.

"Dealing with the government is a slow, plodding process," said Terry Bienstock, a Miami software executive who summers in Montauk. Donors are already willing to help raise $50,000 to $100,000, he added.

"The county isn't even paying a penny, but unfortunately, they've been an obstacle," said County Legis. Jay Schneiderman (R-Montauk).

Deputy county executive Ben Zwirn blames money problems as well as misunderstandings. But he added that the county worries it will end up paying for maintenance or other costs.

Saturday, the organizers hope for clear skies and a politics-free evening. "A lot of people attribute their interest in astronomy to the first time they saw beautiful meteors streaking against the sky," Madigan said."

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I don't know the layout in Suffolk county, but building anything on government property will end up bad and the group will lose control in many aspects. Find a private parcel guys, and fully control your great scope and observatory.

The best of luck in your project fight.

Lucky they don't reside in Cook County - Illinois...!

[Maddad]

I do not want this to get political, but more and more government does not serve the people. It just gets in the way.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Maddad,

Now, here are dedicated independent astronomers who desire to share the skies with a sophisticated telescope, (raising their own funds), and Suffolk county not only is be anal about it, but want a cut.

Incredible.

Governments have kept science in the dark for millenia.

I hope they work it out.

[SpaceCommander]

This situation is not unique - it has happened to many astronomy groups around the country. The problem is not so much "the government", but rather that people are very enthusiastic to donate money to buy telescopes and equipment for good purposes, but very UNenthusiastic to donate money to buy land, pay insurance, pay for the electric bills, maintenance, and security.
Having complete control of your facility is a good thing - but the downside of it is you have complete responsibility for it. Getting people in a volunteer organization to commit to taking these responsibilities for a long term is a very difficult thing to accomplish.
The Calumet Astronomical Society in Northwest Indiana has met this challenge by forming long standing partnerships with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, The Lake County Indiana Parks, and Purdue University Calumet- resulting in the Calumet Astronomy Center. This 40 acre parcel just south of Buckley Homestead County Park in Lowell, Indiana, hosts the Thomas Conway Observatory, operated by CAS, and construction has begun on Purdue's NIRO (Northern Indiana Robotic Observatory).

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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

SC,

You are so right.

It's great to have the comfort and security of a fiscal entity to take the hit of potential liability comcerns and to fall back on.

I had plans to start negotiation to build an observatory attached to a local High School in Chicago, but knowing the powers that be, control would soon be lost at the whim of anybody in the upper hierarchy chain and eviction is always looming. I have a astro friend in Texas who has a rolling bus filled with telescopes and equipment who drives about to star parties and such, By not having the public actually enter his vehicle, I'm sure he has avoided certain liability issues.

Excellent on the partnership of the Parks, University and State...as every new astronomical endeavour is a good one and benefits all.

Kudos CAS!.... #Thumbsup#