The EP Memorial Observatory (EPMO) got a foot on the ground September 7, with the pouring of the foundation footers, the stub walls and the backfill.
Mike Connolly, spearheading the project in the names of his children killed two years ago in a traffic accident, said excavation for the project began several weeks ago. Because the observatory is located on school property, “everything has to go through the state,” he said. “We waited on the approval.”
Although building will commence now, Connolly expects that the next big holdup will “probably be the dome. We may end up building [the dome] ourselves, following the lead of the Little Thompson Observatory.”
Connolly said the staff of the Little Thompson Observatory (LTO), including the Director of Teacher Education Andrea Schweitzer (see related story on Yoga Conference at left), has been “instrumental in helping us. We’ve patterned ourselves after what they did. They built their own dome — in a garage — and then a crane took it to the school,” he said.
While before this, all the plans were “just paperwork” Connolly said, now that the earth moving and digging have begun, it’s “very exciting.”
Members of the Angels Above Foundation (AAF), the operating entity of the EPMO, have been attending fraternal groups and speaking about the project. They had a table at the school open houses this week.
Look for the observatory doors to open by the end of next summer, Connolly said.
How did the project sprout wings?
“I like the idea,” he said. “It’s the best idea for a memoriam. My son was an engineer. My daughter was a computer person. We’d gone to the Little Thompson Observatory years ago. What a great way to get kids excited.”
Mike and Carole Connolly and Michele Johnson wished to build an observatory in honor of Mike and Carole’s children and Michele’s siblings, Thomas and Christian Connolly, who died July 2, 2005, in a traffic accident.
The Connollys all have backgrounds in science, math and astronomy. Mike, a retired engineer from Lockheed Martin Corporation, spent many nights viewing stars and planets with his children.
The AAF is utilizing the concept of the Little Thompson Observatory in Berthoud. The LTO built an observatory on land owned by the Berthoud School District. The LTO operates the facility and it is used for education of school students and the general public. The Connollys approached the Park R-3 School District about the concept of the AAF building an observatory on property the school district would donate. The operation of the completed observatory will be done by the AAF and expenses associated with insurance and utilities will be paid by the school district in exchange for the observatory being offered to school district students and the general public as an educational resource.
The school district and the AAF entered into a letter of understanding outlining
the school district’s donation of property and later contribution of utility
and insurance payments as well as an existing telescope that the school district
owns. The AAF will provide the building and maintenance and operation of the
observatory for the use of students of the school district as well as the general
public. The observatory will be used by the school district in their science
curriculum and as a tool to encourage learning by students and members of the
public in principles of science, math and astronomy.