Ah - the purist. And smelt the metal parts.
I've had a project in mind to go this one step better. On the way to work there are those ugly street lights - metal poles and arms with the semi-globe lights. One day I saw one that had been hit and knocked down by a car. I picked up the large piece of glass from the light and examined it for possible use as a mirror blank. Even though it wasn't well suited for a mirror and decent glass blanks could be easily obtained otherwise, I thought it would be ironic justice to turn this devil's tool into something useful and wonderful. And why stop with the glass - how about cannibalizing the metal pole and hardware for a telescope mount and fittings? Leave just enough of the character of the original so it would be recognized (that is don't just melt it down for castings - just cut it into parts) yet make it optically and mechanically functional as an astronomical telescope.
As it turned out the glass fragment had severe cracks and I could not scavenge the pole fast or discretely enough, so I abandoned the idea this time around. But I'm sure there are enough useless street lights and poles around to convert into a forest of 'scopes. If I don't get to it (my next projects will be to re-build a GEM and two 12.5" Newts), anyone can feel free to take this idea and make it go.
Regards, William Hathaway Baltimore MD