As part of a community effort to preserve David Dunlap Observatory — a 190-acre park in the middle of Richmond Hill, a freedom of information request was issued to the Ontario Ministry of Culture. The FOI office released a 3-page letter from Lincoln Alexander to the Honorable Aileen Carroll, Ontario’s Minister of Culture. Lincoln Alexander is Chair of the Ontario Heritage Trust, a provincial agency that is charged with advising the Ministry on heritage matters.
I first moved to Richmond Hill in 1972. As a 12-year-old who grew up with the Gemini and Apollo space programs, I was interested in science and astronomy and owned a small telescope and a subscription to Sky and Telescope. In the pages of that magazine, the names such as Palomar, Mount Wilson, Yerkes and David Dunlap Observatory occurred frequently and resonated deeply. These were wonderful, inspiring, exotic places of science that generated deep intellectual attachments in thousands of young men and women. I was thrilled to move to Richmond Hill, primarily because it was the home of David Dunlap Observatory
After attending one of the public lectures and seeing the 74-inch telescope for the first time on my 13th birthday, my friends and I made many trips to the DDO. A few years later we moved to Weldrick Road and the observatory became a favorite place where I could walk, write and take photographs. Continue reading »
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