Astrosetz
sage
Reged: 10/05/03
Posts: 294
Loc: Wisconsin
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Please read below. The full story is on the Sky & Telescope web site at the link included.
There is some talk already on the NEWSTAR Yahoo Group about helping to make sure Yerkes is protected as a National Historic Landmark, or at least a Wisconsin Historic Site. Karen Klamczynski, director of Barlow Planetarium in Oshkosh, is already looking into it.
I believe all amateur astronomy groups should pitch in to make sure this happens. I have already contacted Ms. Klamczynski on our club's behalf to volunteer in whatever capacity we are needed to help in this effort.
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Yerkes On the Block
December 15, 2004 Yerkes Observatory may soon have a new owner. The University of Chicago has considered selling the observatory's telescopes, buildings, and about 80 acres of lakefront property in southeastern Wisconsin "for decades," says director Kyle M. Cudworth, the only astronomer still working full time at the former research powerhouse. Now a sale seems imminent, and it remains unclear what the future holds for the observatory's century-old refractor (the world's largest).
http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1408_1.asp
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-Astrosetz
www.astrosetz.com
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square_peg
Postmaster
Reged: 03/26/04
Posts: 23989
Loc: Maple Valley, WA
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Oh man, it would be a crying shame to loose that to development. 
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Tom (Pegster)
DSH-8 (GSO Dob)
15x70 Oberwerks
SVP 100 f/6 achro
WO 66 Petzval
Sears Discoverer EQ 60/900
8x42 Regals
History is Philosophy teaching by examples.
Thucydides
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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I have always wanted to visit Yerkes. It looks like my chance may have passed unless I act quickly. I hope someone at least steps up to save the scope at least.
Roger
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Yep, coming to an observatory near you...another neighborhood. Just shoot me now.
I'll bet they'll be just lovely condos though!
They should sell pieces of the old dome encased in plexiglass for $20 or so. Sky & 'Scope could make it happen.
Ya think? 
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Cerberus
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 2689
Loc: Newton, KS 67114
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Aww, *bleep*. Yerkes? Is nothing sacred?
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Astrosetz
sage
Reged: 10/05/03
Posts: 294
Loc: Wisconsin
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Can you see a bunch of amateur astronomers being arrested for chaining themselves to the 40" refactor? I've never been in trouble with the law, but if it comes to that...
Seriously though, we are monitoring the situation closely. Nothing bad has happened yet and us frozen cheese-eating astronomers intend to keep it that way.
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-Astrosetz
www.astrosetz.com
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Cerberus
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 2689
Loc: Newton, KS 67114
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I would chain myself to it if it became neccssary. Count me in!
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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I heard when it's all done the condo owners will be required to keep a brass refracting telescope looking out thru the window, out of respect for the fallen GREAT ONE. And each condo will also have a least one 1000 watt beacon shinning up into the universe.
Greater love hath no developer!
I can't wait to visit such a mecca. (Like a used car lot.)
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Cerberus
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/16/04
Posts: 2689
Loc: Newton, KS 67114
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I dont like the part about the lights... How about at sunset all the electricity is cut off!
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Astrosetz
sage
Reged: 10/05/03
Posts: 294
Loc: Wisconsin
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The biggest problem for Yerkes is that it sits on prime real estate. Lake Geneva has been the playground for wealthy Chicagoans for 100 years, and it looks like it :-/ In summer you will see more luxury cars with Illinois plates than anywhere else north of the state line.
Not only does Yerkes sit on coveted lakefront property, but it also has a GOLF COURSE right next to the property. One of the fairways runs right by the main building.
Most observatories are stuck up in the mountains, well out of the way of ordinary folk. Not so in this case.
What we need is somebody like Johnny Carson to decide it would make a nice summer home just the way it is :-)
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-Astrosetz
www.astrosetz.com
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warf
professor emeritus
Reged: 10/25/04
Posts: 709
Loc: Wisconsin
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What is most interesting about all of this is Yerkes observatory was gifted to the University of Chicago and it was stipulated that neither the facility nor its land could be sold. I am sure that their lawyers have found a loophole in that gift request, but there needs to be a major PR campaign launched against the University of Chicago informing all future philanthropists that this univerisity doesn not honor their word and no future gifts should be forth coming until they honor the terms of the Yerkes gift. Yerkes has been a source of prestige for the University of Chicago and they have likely received many Federal Grants over the decades for non-astronomical research projects due to historical reputation Yerkes observatory brings to the University as a whole.
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Marsh
Celestron NS 11 GPS, Denk Standard Binoviewer, Pair of Denk 21 EP, Denk PowerSwitch Diagonal, Denk PST Corrector, Coronado PST Double Stacked, WO ZS80 Anniversary,Celestron 15x70 Binoculars
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jrcrilly
Refractor wienie again
Reged: 04/30/03
Posts: 22479
Loc: NE Ohio
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Quote:
What is most interesting about all of this is Yerkes observatory was gifted to the University of Chicago and it was stipulated that neither the facility nor its land could be sold.
That doesn't sound right; such a conditional gift wouldn't be tax-deductible and would thus be most unusual. If there's a reverter in the deed then they can't sell it. If there isn't then it belongs to them and they can do whatever they want to with it.
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John C
Urban Observatory
Tele Vue Pronto
A&M/Astreya 76mm F/6 APO
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Tak CN-212 8" F/12 classical Cass/ F/4 Newt
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LXD750, EM-200, CI-700
ST-10XME
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warf
professor emeritus
Reged: 10/25/04
Posts: 709
Loc: Wisconsin
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Charles Yerkes was a very eccentric man and nothing he ever did was conventional ... he built this observatory with his own money and then he gifted it to the University... I had the opportunity to read the original agreement in August when I went along with a local area newsreporter (southern Wiscsonin) who did a story on the potential sale of this observatory. The agreement is quite simple and it clearly states that the land and the observatory could not be sold. Charles Yerkes didn't care about the tax... to be associated with a Univeristy of the stature of University of Chicago (MIT Equivelent in his day) went a long way to stroking his gigantic ego and was the real motivation behind the entire project.
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Marsh
Celestron NS 11 GPS, Denk Standard Binoviewer, Pair of Denk 21 EP, Denk PowerSwitch Diagonal, Denk PST Corrector, Coronado PST Double Stacked, WO ZS80 Anniversary,Celestron 15x70 Binoculars
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jrcrilly
Refractor wienie again
Reged: 04/30/03
Posts: 22479
Loc: NE Ohio
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Quote:
I had the opportunity to read the original agreement in August when I went along with a local area newsreporter (southern Wiscsonin) who did a story on the potential sale of this observatory. The agreement is quite simple and it clearly states that the land and the observatory could not be sold.
Hmmm. Must have been a "rule against perpetuities" issue.
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John C
Urban Observatory
Tele Vue Pronto
A&M/Astreya 76mm F/6 APO
TMB/LOMO 80mm F/7.5 APO
Tak FSQ-106N F/5 APO
Meade 152ED F/9 "APO"
152mm F/10 achromat
Tak CN-212 8" F/12 classical Cass/ F/4 Newt
Teeter 20" F/3.8 truss Newt w/ServoCat
LXD750, EM-200, CI-700
ST-10XME
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warf
professor emeritus
Reged: 10/25/04
Posts: 709
Loc: Wisconsin
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I would think that it is different for Institutions than it is for individuals. Since the title would be transferred to the University and not a individual, the terms they could tie to it could be different... it is my understanding that the rule against perpetuities
states that if the deed is passed to an individual that individual can deed to future generations but must be specific such as to Son, to Son's son and so on. For individuals it is "lives in being plus 21 years". But since a organizations life can be significantly longer than that of an individual the terms would likely be different. Since it was deeded to the University of Chicago and the University of Chicago is still in existance (in other words, alive), then the rule against perpetuities might not apply. I am no lawyer but I do have several trusts and since the trust owns the real property and not me if something were to happen to me the real property would simply be passed to the beneficiary of the trust and the process would begin over with the trust administrator naming a new beneficiary. Rockefeller talking on trusts once said, "Own nothing, acquire much."
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Marsh
Celestron NS 11 GPS, Denk Standard Binoviewer, Pair of Denk 21 EP, Denk PowerSwitch Diagonal, Denk PST Corrector, Coronado PST Double Stacked, WO ZS80 Anniversary,Celestron 15x70 Binoculars
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jrcrilly
Refractor wienie again
Reged: 04/30/03
Posts: 22479
Loc: NE Ohio
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Quote:
it is my understanding that the rule against perpetuities
states that if the deed is passed to an individual that individual can deed to future generations but must be specific such as to Son, to Son's son and so on.
I don't do much probate or real estate, but the way I remember the Rule Against Perpetuities is that an interest in real property has to vest (become permanent) within "a life in being" plus 21 years or it doesn't vest at all (no valid conveyance). The "life in being" doesn't need to be named but is a living person. The intent is to avoid the situation formerly found in England where a great many parcels of land were never really owned by people because of perpetual restrictions requiring it to be passed down through generations. They solved that with "Shelley's Case". Since then the RAP prevents it ocurring again. To get past the Rule and be a valid conveyance it can't have restrictions which would last beyond the LIB plus 21 year requirement.
Dunno how they got around it when Yerkes was conveyed; maybe they violated it then and it was recently fixed?
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John C
Urban Observatory
Tele Vue Pronto
A&M/Astreya 76mm F/6 APO
TMB/LOMO 80mm F/7.5 APO
Tak FSQ-106N F/5 APO
Meade 152ED F/9 "APO"
152mm F/10 achromat
Tak CN-212 8" F/12 classical Cass/ F/4 Newt
Teeter 20" F/3.8 truss Newt w/ServoCat
LXD750, EM-200, CI-700
ST-10XME
Edited by jrcrilly (01/12/05 07:59 PM)
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ScottAz
Fleet Navigator
Reged: 02/06/05
Posts: 1143
Loc: Millington, TN
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I visited Yerkes this morning for one of their Saturday tours. What a MAGNIFICENT scope! The tour guide showed us where to deposit our donations and actually had pre-addressed envelopes available if you wanted to write a letter protesting the observatory's possible sale. In addition to requesting donations, they are also scheduling evening viewing sessions throughout February. $25 gets an evening looking through the 24" scope. I understand that Saturn looked incredible last night! Anyway, I left a donation and bought three Yerkes sweatshirts. What an amazing building! Even the grounds were impressive! Male AND female gingko trees!
Directions are on the Yerkes website. Say "hi" to Scott working the gift counter. And stop by "Skips" on the way back downhill for terrific Chicago-style hot dogs!
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Scott Azmus
SV80BV, NexStar 11, & 18" Obsession 
Many Views Yield Truth
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