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| Attendees of stakeholder meeting, Nov 23 2013 |
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| Nov 23 Meeting, Stakeholder attendees |
Dear Friends of the Saanich Observatory,
On Saturday morning I chaired a meeting at the National Research Council (NRC)’s
Astrophysics headquarters. 30 stakeholders came together to discuss how best to restore public access to the Saanich Observatory.
Attendees included Dan Wayner, the NRC Vice President, and Greg
Fahlman, the General Manager of the Observatory and Herzberg Institute, as well
as the Dean of Engineering, Tom Tiedje, an Astrophysics Professor from UVIC, Sara Ellison, a Vice-President from the Royal Museum of BC, Janet MacDonald, prominent local business people, public school science teachers, and six long-time astronomy volunteers
with the Royal Astronomy Society of Canada (RASC). A full list of attendees is in the sidebar image. I want to genuinely thank them all for their positive engagement and excellent contributions.
By the end
of the three hour meeting we had agreement on the outlines of a plan to re-open the
Centre of the Universe and restore public access to the Saanich Observatory!
Of course there is a ton of work left to do, but we are now well on our way.
The NRC
agreed to pay for all the infrastructure, maintenance, utility and security costs
for the Centre of the Universe. They also agreed to negotiate free public
access to the Observatory so regular Saturday night viewings could resume.
Science
Venture, the UVIC non-profit which runs popular youth summer science camps, formally
proposed at the meeting a six month pilot project of workshops for classroom
school tours, and science camps during Professional Development days, spring
break and over the summer.
Nelson
Walker, the President of the RASC – which has a 95 year history of offering
expert volunteers on the Hill – said his organization could take the lead
in running the Saturday night viewings.
Two working
groups were created at the meeting. The first group will look at practical next
steps and will be chaired by Don Moffatt, a Business Analyst and the originator
of the online petition to save the Centre of the Universe.
The second
group will look at the long-term vision and business case for the Centre and will
be chaired by Dale Ryan, Director of Public Relations for Butchart Gardens and
Director of Sales and Marketing for the Hotel Grand Pacific.
I look forward to increased community engagement and ownership of this effort and will keep you updated as we move forward.
Warm regards,
Lana
Lana Popham, MLA Saanich South
