It was a rainy and cloudy weekend so no stargazing this time. I did, however, attend the groundbreaking for what will be a unique public facility: the Geauga Park District's Observatory Park. The park will celebrate nature from the ground beneath our feet to the cosmos of which we are a small part, all under skies recognized as some of the darkest in our region. As a part of the development the District acquired the Nassau Astronomical Station from Case Western Reserve University and will rehabilitate its 1957 building and research-grade 36-inch Warner and Swasey Cassegrain telescope for Park use. A second 36-inch reflector has been donated to the cause. Park officials expect the facilities to be open for use next year. As a boy I dreamed of observatories of the design seen at Nassau (and at Baldwin-Wallace College)... their turret-domes, telescopes, control rooms, and catwalks enthralled me then and now. How wonderful it would be to use such a facility on a regular basis! It was a thrill to visit Nassau this weekend as a part of the Park's groundbreaking. Hopefully the facilities will continue to fascinate and inspire for many generations to come, both by themselves and as stairways to the stars.
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