After 155 years, the University of Cincinnati is ready to give up control of the observatory that gave Mount Lookout its name.
UC has offered to sign a long-term lease turning the landmark over to a nonprofit organization that would create educational programs and open an astronomy museum.
The university's offer is generous, said Juan Santamarina, a neighbor of the observatory and supporter of the plan who has been working with UC on the effort.
The university will make the lease for a nominal amount annually, probably $1 a year. In addition, UC has said it will provide an astronomer, continue upkeep of the grounds and pay for utilities for the next decade.
"We have something that's physically in the middle of a community and its primary use to the university is completed," said Dale McGirr, UC's vice president for finance. Turning it over to the community and providing services until the nonprofit group is viable is simply good stewardship, he said.
Supporters hope to raise $1 million to $2 million for renovation and another $2 million for an endowment that would provide enough income for upkeep and maintenance.
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Landmark celebration
A ceremony to celebrate the observatory's designation as a national historic landmark will be 2-4 p.m. May 17 at the observatory.
The free program will include representatives from the University of Cincinnati, city officials, neighbors who have worked to preserve the buildings and the daughter of Paul Herget, observatory director 1946 to 1978.
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The plan includes an astronomy museum and educational programs. One effort under discussion would provide a computer hookup to the Perth Observatory in Perth, Australia. School groups would be able to watch as the telescope in Australia views the night skies there.
"Our goal is to make this come alive in the daytime. It's been alive at night forever," said Tricia Bevan, a neighbor who conceived of making it a museum honoring the nation's accomplishments at charting the heavens.
Most people don't realize that the telescope purchased for the observatory in 1843 remains and still works, she noted. The observatory's reputation was once worldwide. Data collected helped scientists understand the structure and rotation of the Milky Way and formulate cosmological theories, such as the "Big Bang."
"This was the first professional observatory in the nation," Ms. Bevan said. "This is the birthplace of American astronomy. We need to remind people of that."
