Announcement of Closure
The Council of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh reluctantly has decided that the Society will not hold meetings at the City Observatory for the foreseeable future. The Society is no longer in a position to organise visits or use of the telescope.
The Society has had the use of the Observatory since 1938 and has met regularly at the Calton Hill since 1953. Unfortunately, in the last couple of years vandalism has caused so much damage to the buildings and fittings that we have had to recognise that the site is no longer usable. The main building has suffered severe water damage following multiple thefts of roofing material. The toilet fittings have been completely destroyed by vandals.
It is with great reluctance that the Council of the Society took the decision to move our meetings and to remove all our property. We hope that the City of Edinburgh Council will manage to restore the site to something approaching its earlier glory when it was quite rightly awarded Listed status and that the Society may, some day, have renewed access to what was once one of the country's premier civic observatories.
The Society will continue to meet monthly in central Edinburgh and will provide opportunities for the public to see astronomical phenomena with telescopes. Full details of our activities will appear on this website.
Farewell to the Observatory
A few hardy individuals attended a quiet closing event for the observatory on the evening of Monday 30th March 2009. The following day, the buildings were closed for the last time by the Society.
