HeyStamford: Stamford Museum removes Telescope from Observatory, First Step in Construction of New Planetarium & Astronomy Center
The Stamford Museum and Nature Center marked a major milestone this week as it took the first step to relocate its historic Gregory-Maksutov Telescope to the Astronomical Lyceum, a historical telescope museum in Magdalena, New Mexico.
The telescope has lived at the Stamford Museum for 57 years.
Stamford-based Frank Comp & Sons Inc., the same family company that hoisted and lowered the telescope through the dome in 1965 – returned to extract and relocate it.
While the Stamford Observatory telescope is leaving the city, the Stamford museum will still have remote access to the instrument’s imaging of the New Mexico sky once it is set up.
The telescope’s move also makes way for the demolition of the museum’s decommissioned observatory, followed by any necessary site work, and the construction of a new Planetarium & Astronomy Center. The facility will feature three levels that include a first-floor, 100-seat planetarium auditorium with state of the art technology, a second-floor science lab classroom, and a third level that includes housing for a 22-inch lunar telescope, and a rollback roof to a public viewing deck.
Demolition will commence in December, and work will begin on the new structure in the spring of 2023. Construction is expected to last about 16 months, with an estimated opening of fall 2024.
Check out our Reel on Instagram to see the removal of the Telescope, and stick around here for more info on the new planetarium in the near future.