Marianne and I held the fort at the Ward 6 Fall BBQ today to let residents know about the Richmond Hill Naturalists and to raise awareness of the possible sale of David Dunlap Observatory lands. Despite stiff competition from the Richmond Hill Rams hockey team, town mascots and many other community groups and service organizations, our table drew plenty of interest from concerned residents. Most people were aware of the David Dunlap Observatory, but many were surprised to learn that the University of Toronto has run evening lectures and stargazing programs for many years. Many others did not realize the public is welcome to walk around the DDO lands during the day.

Everyone who stopped to talk was concerned with the prospect of losing the Observatory and surrounding land to development. We met families with young children who were eager to attend DDO stargazing evenings, a number of U of T alumni, local councilors and dozens of local residents. In all, more than 40 people signed letters, calling for the the University of Toronto to halt the process of selling the Observatory lands so that Richmond Hill residents, the Town, Provincial and Federal governments can explore ways to preserve it, and, if possible, continue running the Observatory.

When I left the event, I walked west along Bantry over the CN tracks to catch the Yonge Street bus and was struck by the panoramic view of the David Dunlap Observatory from the bridge over the tracks. The photo below illustrates how development has crept up to the edge of the DDO property and that, for now at least, a considerable amount of forest cover remains on the property.

– Rod Potter

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 28th, 2007 at 10:35 pm and is filed under Save David Dunlap Observatory. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.