ATM: "Observatory Building"

["David Harbour" <scarab2@cox.net>]

To all: (and especially, those geographically near my location):

Recently, for a very curious reason, I had occasion to visit an old, abanded
and unused oil well equipment service building located "in the country" just
east of my home town.

This building I can get for one dollar. It looks almost as if it were
designed to hold a rail mount 36" or 40" reflector; it has a huge south
facing door that the instrument could easily roll in and out of, rather than
moving the roof. Every time I visit it or go by it, the dream keeps
re-asserting itself- find a group who would be willing to undertake a
project to build, put into place, and use a very large telescope in this
building that I can get for a one dollar bill (I think). It's crazy, but I
thought I would just throw out the idea to you guys at large; can't
cultivate any interest in local "enthusiasts" (there really aren't any, even
though our local college all of a sudden has a well equipped astronomy
"department", with a sixteen foot ash dome housing its C-14, said ash dome
building constructed in a parking lot!).

My crazy idea is that perhaps a wider community, individuals perhaps not
placed in town, but maybe in other nearby metropolitan areas, might be
interested in perhaps inquiring into a project like this. If so, I have some
lovely pictures of this remarkably well built masonry and steel building
that I could send. Though abandoned for many years now (Oklahoma is having
1933 again, I think Oklahoma is trapped in 1933), it does not seem to
deteriorate- it is built of steel and concrete blocks, with a thick, nearly
perfectly level concrete slab floor. The roof is intact, and made of steel,
and has survived soft ball sized hail.

It's just that every time I see this old building, or walk around on its
perfectly level concrete floor, I keep hearing voices whispering to me:
"Build it, and house it in here, for many to use". If any of you guys wouild
like to see this picture (or a couple of them) please request. I just think
this building has a destiny to house a colossal amateur built reflector, and
I sure would like to see it come to pass. I believe it could handle a 40
incher, easily. My childhood dream to become a "real" astronomer just keeps
re-asserting itself.  Ask for picture, please-

Davey.

P.S. The local astronomy proff at our community college here, the one who
had the ashdome observatory built in the college's parking lot, said he had
reservations about the stability of a large reflector mounted on rails; I
guess he doesn't know that there are about 27 or 28 big telescopes in New
Mexico with arc second pointing and resolution, that are rail mounted (VLA,
well pictured, shown, in the movie "Contact"). Only in Oklahoma can we have
so many, with so few (you know what). Ask for picture- my handsome (and
successful) brother is in the picture, to convey the scale of the huge south
facing doorway that the big telescope will roll into and out of.

And the Professor is now stumping up and down to get the funds to build an
observatory for a 36" reflector (Ritchey Chretien Cass) in a remote area
near Cleo Springs, Oklahoma. This area has some pretty, small mesas
scattered about in a relatively small area- this area is known as "The Glass
Mountains", a local tourist attraction, and the Oklahoma City amateur
astronomers put in several (many) telescope pads with electricity for their
club members to use out there for their star parties.

Ask for picture of "my" observatory building. Dreams. They just won't go
away.

Davey