‘Impractical’ research lights the way

MONIQUE KEIRAN / TIMES COLONIST 

AUGUST 31, 2013

No lights shine in the Centre of the Universe today. The staff who ran the interpretive centre at Little Saanich Mountain’s Dominion Astrophysical Observatory cleaned out their desks Friday, turned out the light and vacated the building. So ends 12 years of educational programming about astronomy and Canada’s place in scientific research.

As Centre of the Universe readies to close, fight to keep it open continues

Saanich South MLA Lana Popham plans to collect signatures outside
the Centre of the Universe today in a bid to keep the Saanich facility
open. The act is more a celebration than a protest, she says.
Photograph by: BRUCE STOTESBURY, Times Colonist 

AMY SMART / TIMES COLONIST 
AUGUST 23, 2013

After members of the public peer through the telescope at the Centre of the Universe for the last time tonight, a campaign to save the science education centre will continue.

Saanich South MLA Lana Popham plans to be at the centre today collecting signatures for a petition asking the federal government to restore funding to the centre, the public education arm of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory.

“I don’t believe that closing the Centre of the Universe is an option,” Popham said Friday.

“Whether or not the federal funding comes back, for me at this point, it’s beside the point. We have to figure out a way to keep it going.”

Stephen Hume: Federal budget cuts to close renowned astronomy centre

Photograph by: Diana Nethercott , Vancouver Sun

BY STEPHEN HUME, VANCOUVER SUN COLUMNIST AUGUST 23, 2013

There are people, as Oscar Wilde famously said, who know the price of everything but the value of nothing.

So, with that in mind, I made my way to the top of Little Saanich Mountain last weekend to bid a bittersweet farewell to The Centre of the Universe, due to close its doors at the end of August, one of the least deserving victims of Ottawa’s spending cuts.

Support the Saanich Observatory!

Don’t let the Centre of the Universe go dark!

Visit the Centre, see the telescope in action, and:

Demonstrate your support for public access to the Saanich Observatory!

Sat Aug 24

Observatory Hill, 5071 West Saanich Rd.

This is the last day the Centre & Observatory are

scheduled to be open to the public.

Local MLAs and MPs will be there to hear your views about this issue

and with a petition you can sign.

Hours 3:30pm    Centre of the Universe opens 5-7:00pm See the Sun through a telescope* 9:00pm    Plaskett telescope turns on* *Weather willing, limited space - arrive early to avoid disappointment.

Admission: Sliding scale, from $5.75 to $13.50 Children under 4 free Family passes available

For more info:

Saanich South MLA Lana Popham | 250.479.4154 | | lana.popham.mla@leg.bc.ca

saanichsouth.ca or saanichobservatory.ca