Another lovely greenspace is under threat. The Province of Ontario has plans to build an intermodal transit hub in a natural heritage wildlife sanctuary that lies to the east of Keele Street, at the end of Rockview Gardens, south of Highway #7, and north of the 407.  This area has traditionally provided access to the Bartley Smith Greenway system and is the only greenspace readily accessible to the residents of Concord West.  The residents of the area have worked extremely hard to develop a detailed alternate plan for the transit hub, a plan that would preserve this much-needed greenspace.

If you support the preservation of the Concord West greenspace, please send a message to Premier Dalton McGuinty.

For more information on this issue and the resident’s plan, please see http://saveconcordwest.wordpress.com/

RHN members and the general public are welcome to join other birders on any of the following outings:

High Park Saturday, September 11, 2010 8:00 a.m. – 12 noon

Meet at 8:00 a.m. in the parking lot inside the Bloor St. entrance to High Park at High Park Avenue. Fall migrants, raptors. Leader: Steven Favier.

Durham Waterfront, Pickering-Oshawa Second Marsh Saturday, September 18, 2010 8:00 a.m. – afternoon

Meet at 8:00 a.m. at Pickering GO Station – from 401 East exit at White’s Road and then go south to Bayly St. (first lights), then east to the Pickering GO station (just east of Liverpool Rd.) – go a little bit east of the main parking lot to the overflow lot on the left (north) on Sandy Creek Rd. – meet in SE part of the lot.

Fall migrants, shorebirds, waterfowl. Leader: Geoff Carpentier.

Meet at 8:00 a.m. at James Gardens parking lot (access from Edenbridge Drive east of Royal York Rd., north of Dundas St West).

Fall migrants. Leader: Don Burton.

Meet at 8:00 a.m. at the foot of Leslie St. (south of Lakeshore Boulevard East). Fall migrants, raptors, shorebirds. Leader: Bob Kortright.

All members of the public are invited to a Public Design Charette on Saturday, November 7th, being held as part of the David Dunlap Observatory Lands Planning and Conservation Management Study:

The DDO Study intends first, to establish a Conservation Management Plan that assists in managing and protecting the property’s heritage attributes; and second, to develop a land use vision and strategic direction for the future of the site that will celebrate its uniqueness and special value. This workshop is the second consultation event for the Study following the Open House held on October 20, 2009. The purpose of the workshop is for the community to help develop conservation management principles and planning options for the site through a number of visioning and design exercises.

Staff from the Town and Planning Alliance (the consulting firm retained to lead the David Dunlap Observatory Lands Planning and Conservation Management Study), will be on hand to facilitate the workshop.

For further information, contact Joanne Leung in the Planning & Development Department at (905) 771-5498 or by e-mail [email protected].

When and where:

Saturday November 7th, 2009    9:30 am – 12:30 pm

Langstaff Community Centre,
(Tollgate Room)
155  Red Maple Road
Richmond Hill

More information:

• Town of Richmond Hill DDO web page
• David Dunlap Observatory Lands Planning and Conservation Management Study Open House Information [PDF]

From the DDO Defenders:

It is important for everyone who cares about the fate of the David Dunlap Observatory and its lands, who wishes to protect its heritage and the greenspace to come this Saturday to the design charette with a vision that sends a clear message:

NO RESIDENTIAL OR COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE DDO LANDS – on any part.

Whether you are a resident of Richmond Hill or York Region or not, show elected officials that this is an important issue for you.  Make your voice heard at meetings and by written word.  Attend Saturday’s design charette visionning the future use and protection  of the DDO lands.  Let Richmond Hill Council know that the zoning must remain institutional and that the site be used for research, educational, cultural, and re-creational, not for residential and commercial development– and that the Official Plan must reflect these uses.

The City of Toronto would not allow the sale of  High Park or Edwards Gardens.  It is developing the Toronto Brickworks.  Why has Richmond Hill and York Region not made strides for the acquisition of the David Dunlap Observatory and lands?  This could be Richmond Hill’s Central Park or Mont Royal, a tranquil oasis in an a busy urban setting. A sanctuary for wildlife.  Continued use as a way station for migrating birds.

Currently, it appears that the only piece of property that the Town will protect is the swath of land that is the continuation of the lands north of the panhandle.  This area contains the Observatory, Admin building, and the Marshes’ homestead, Elms Lea.

We want the Town to be responsive to the Community,the expressed wishes of its residents, and all those who value the David Dunlap Observatory and its lands.  Only then will it have credibility when approaching other levels of government.  The further along the process of planning and official plan amendments is, the higher the cost to bring back the lands into the public domain.  Only continued pressure from the public can reverse the process.

This comment from the online petition gives us in a nutshell why it is so important to save this special place.
https://www.rhnaturalists.ca/save-the-observatory/petition.php :

I worked at the DDO as an undergraduate researcher from 1999 to 2003, and I have a lot of great memories there.  My decision to make Astronomy my career was crystalized during my time at the DDO, and I would be deeply saddened if we lost a source of inspiration for young, inquiring minds.

Furthermore, the DDO land is extremely beautiful and wonderfully tranquil, providing a haven for those seeking a brief respite from their hectic lives.  More importantly, it provides a space to make Astronomy accessible to the public.  I think we would be losing an important part of our history, and we should work hard to preserve and cherish the DDO.

• This is the second of 3 mandated public meetings regarding the Town’s “Planning and Conservation Management Study” for the DDO Lands.

[Planning and Conservation Management Study it's]  more to do with “planning” than it is with “heritage”.  The landowner and developer is working on their own “concept plan” which is called a “Master Environmental Servicing Plan” (MESP), which will lay out their “vision” for development on the Dunlap Lands, a sub-division which they are calling “Observatory Hill”.  This also has to be publicly vetted, and will be “peer-reviewed” by the Town.

• “No development on the Dunlap Lands, not now, not ever”.

We speak for the Dunlap Site as an integral whole.  That is the position we adopted right from the get-go beginning, nothing has changed.  The Dunlap Site houses Canada ’s largest optical telescope, where many important and groundbreaking astrophysical discoveries and confirmations took place over its 73 year storied history.  The Dunlap Telescope is still a viable and valuable astrophysical research instrument which should be in the hands of astrophysicists so they may manage and direct the research and public outreach programs this facility should be, and could be, undertaking.

The Dunlap site encompasses 189 acres of pristine open greenspace – arboretums, forests, meadows, wetlands, marshes, springs, heritage woodlots, heritage hedgerows – which is home to a multitude of flora and fauna which must be protected – a resident deer herd, coyote, foxes, many species of forest wildlife, insects, butterflies, pollinators, owls, hawks, birds of differing species and an invaluable safe harbour for migratory birds.

The Dunlap lands straddle the southernmost edge of the Oak Ridges Moraine, The massive below ground Oak Ridges Moraine Aquifer Complex runs beneath it, feeding the headwaters of German Mills Creek.  The ecological necessity of these undisturbed lands cannot be overly stated in the role they play in the health of all who/which inhabit its space, the surrounding areas, and, very importantly, in controlling the flood plain and storm water runoff.

This remarkable oasis in the middle of urban sprawl must be protected against the ravages of development of any kind.

We have consistently stated and maintained for 2 years now that the Dunlap Observatory and Park should remain as is and as it was intended – a professional research Observatory and public education outreach facility, a Park and Arboretum, home to the Marsh heritage farmstead and surrounded by protecting acres of green space and mature trees, enabling the Observatory’s scientific function.

That is our message, plain and simple, we, the public, want and insist the Dunlap site is saved an protected for all for posterity.  We do NOT support ANY vision for development of any kind.  We ask and insist that OUR voice is heard, respected and listened to.

We hope to see you all at the meeting on [Saturday morning], and that many of you will step forward and let the Town and Planning Alliance, and developer, know just how much we intend to ensure the Dunlap Lands are not disturbed.

We have been given information that some RH residents have received flyers telling them not to attend the meeting tomorrow as the Dunlap is a “done deal”.  We are investigating this claim thoroughly and attempting to receive confirmation.  If anyone on this list has received such notification or you know of anyone who has, please contact me ASAP – 416-990-6694.   Please inform anyone who may contact you about this, that it is unequivocally erroneous disinformation and their attendance is, now more than ever, required at tomorrow’s meeting.

Thank you all again for your continued support…

Karen Cilivitz,
Chair, DDO Defenders

You are needed! Please come out to the town council meeting on Tuesday, September 29th at 7:30pm. Your presence matters!   At the September 14th meeting, Council was ready to quickly pass a designation by-law that many felt did not have the teeth needed to ensure the DDO is properly protected.   The Richmond Hill Naturalists and DDO Defenders produced a revised Dunlap Heritage Designation By-law that is broader in scope and more specific in the language used to describe the heritage attributes of the Dunlap lands.   As a result of this work and the voices of 16 concerned residents, Richmond Hill Council referred the Dunlap by-law back to Town staff so that public concerns could be reviewed.

The by-law will be tabled again before Council at the September 29th meeting.  Please come to this meeting and support local residents who are fighting for the best possible protection of Richmond Hill’s largest remaining green space.  All residents are welcome to speak for up to five minutes at the meeting. If you wish to address Council, please email the Town Clerk  ([email protected]) to have your name placed on the speakers list by noon today:

Your Subject Line should read:

Request to be placed on Speakers List, Monday, Sept. 14^th, Council Meeting, 7:30pm.

Include in the body of your request the following:

*You wish to speak to the matter of Agenda Item 1.12 – Designating By-law for the David Dunlap Observatory Lands-File no. D12-07228-123 Hillsview Drive- (SRPD. 09.092)-(Item no. 12)-(Proposed By-law No.100-09) and be placed on the Speakers List.

*Your name, address, phone number.

Your request will be confirmed by the Town Clerk early Monday afternoon via return email.

Contact Council Directly

If you can’t attend the Sept 29th meeting, you can send your comments directly to local and regional politicians. Please write:

Mayor

• David Barrow  -  [email protected]

Regional Councillors

• Brenda Hogg  –   [email protected]
• Vito Spatafora  –   [email protected]

Ward Councillors

• Ward 1        Greg Beros  -   [email protected]
• Ward 2        Arnie Warner  –   [email protected]
• Ward 3        David Cohen  -   [email protected]
• Ward 4        Lynn Foster  -   [email protected]
• Ward 5         Nick Papa  -    [email protected]
• Ward 6        Godwin Chan  -   [email protected]

Signing Up to save the DDO

Dozens of Richmond Hill residents are adding a little more green to their front yards by displaying a Development Free Zone sign.  If you want to help preserve our town’s last remaining green space and would like a sign of your own (for a small donation), please email [email protected] and one of our volunteers will be happy to deliver one to your door.

You are needed! Please come out to the town council meeting TONIGHT, Monday September 14 at 7:30pm. Your presence matters!

Tonight Council intends to pass the by-law designating the Dunlap Observatory property as a cultural heritage landscape.

We have concerns that there are too many loopholes and errors in this bylaw and that it will not be able to do the job it appears designed to do. Keep in mind that the by-law was released to the public on the Thursday night before the long weekend, with the Committee of the Whole meeting to discuss it on the day AFTER Labour Day, giving our community very little time to digest and analyze the contents of the by-law before Council’s only debate on it.   Concerned citizens have proposed a revised bylaw which would better protect the Dunlap property.  The revised version can be downloaded here:  Dunlap Revised Heritage Designation By-law.

Please come out to make sure Council does it right and gives this property the level of protection it deserves. You do not have to speak, but it’s important to come out so that our councillors know that you care about this issue.

You are welcome to speak for up to five minutes at the meeting. If you wish to speak, please email the Town Clerk  ([email protected]) to have your name placed on the speakers list by noon today:

Your Subject Line should read:

Request to be placed on Speakers List, Monday, Sept. 14^th, Council Meeting, 7:30pm.

Include in the body of your request the following:

*You wish to speak to the matter of Agenda Item 1.12 – Designating By-law for the David Dunlap Observatory Lands-File no. D12-07228-123 Hillsview Drive- (SRPD. 09.092)-(Item no. 12)-(Proposed By-law No.100-09) and be placed on the Speakers List.

*Your name, address, phone number.

Your request will be confirmed by the Town Clerk early Monday afternoon via return email.

You can access the Dunlap draft by-law here: http://tinyurl.com/lxgxjv

The Richmond Hill Naturalists and community groups such as the DDO Defenders  continue to advocate for the complete protection of the David Dunlap Observatory and Park.  If you support this community action, please call your local councillor (905-771-8800), write a letter and/or buy a lawn sign.  Tell Town Council you want LEADERSHIP & ALL Dunlap Parklands protected!

Please attend the Town of Richmond Hill Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday September 8th, 4:30pm, when Council will first consider the staff report for the draft Dunlap Designating By-Law.  We have been fighting for the Dunlap site’s preservation and protection for almost 2 years now – is OUR time to bear witness, be heard and be there for the Dunlap site.

SIGN UP to protect our heritage resources from more needless urban development ! Keep our  parks FREE of development !

SIGN UP to give Town Council the message saving ALL the David Dunlap Observatory Parklands is NOT COMPLICATED !

SIGN UP to tell Town Council to follow the Conservation Review Board decision calling for a MINIMUM of 80% of this property to be SAVED !

SIGN UP to tell Town Council to PICK-UP THE PHONE – call for help making the Dunlap Parklands the BEST CHOICE economic engine that a fully protected national park or heritage site can provide.

According to Canada Heritage Foundation, the David Dunlap Observatory & Parklands is among the country’s Top 10 Most Endanged Heritage Sites. This fall, Town Council says it will table a by-law providing protections to our greatest hertiage landmark. But Council says it can’t protect ALL 189- acres of the Dunlap Parklands from development, because it needs “someone riding in on a white horse,” to buy the property from the developers. The rider is here and waiting. Council just needs to PICK-UP THE PHONE.

Town Council needs to LISTEN to the consistent wishes of its residents. It needs to stop wringing its hands and PICK-UP THE PHONE. It needs to save and conserve ALL the Dunlap and the investment this community has made in its scientic, cultural and natural resources. For more than 73 years, the Richmond Hill and York Region community paid taxes to underwrite the good works of the Observatory. The developers DIDN’T.

Call, write and/or buy a sign. Tell Town Council you want LEADERSHIP & ALL Dunlap Parklands protected ! The public has the FIRST and ONLY right to this heritage, it is not this Council’s to give or deal these resources away. It is urgent you tell Town Council NOW to THINK and ACT in the best interests of our community, and not JUST in the short term interests of developers.
For current and future generations, we need to protect ALL the Dunlap Parklands and leverage our natural and cultural resources into the BEST CHOICE ECONOMIC ENGINE that a national park or historic monument site provides.

Please call the Mayor or your Ward Councillor at (905) 771-8800. Or email offiicemayor@richmond hill.ca or the entire Councill at Council_Members. [email protected].  Or use this time-saving sample letters.  Make the difference.  SIGN UP Richmond Hill !

David Dunlap Observatory & Park
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Dated May 19, 2009; released June 4^th, 2009

A tribunal of the Ontario government, the Conservation Review Board (CRB), has delivered its final decision regarding the cultural heritage value of the David Dunlap Observatory & Park in Richmond Hill.   The document, consisting of 61 pages and dated May 19^th, 2009, is signed by the Chair of the CRB who presided at the Dunlap hearing, Mr. Peter Zakarow, and its co-Chair, Ms. Karen Haslam.

The Conservation Review Board decides issues of heritage value for the people of Ontario, it then advises local governments how buildings and the cultural heritage landscapes (CHLs) surrounding them should best be preserved for future generations.

The work of the CRB is not legally binding upon the Town of Richmond Hill or any municipality – it serves as nothing more than a recommendation.

Amongst the CRB hearing’s four participant parties, there was little disagreement regarding the merits of the Observatory’s three main buildings. Expert witnesses testified the Great Telescope Dome, the Administration Building and the Director’s residence known as Elms Lea is of local, provincial, national and international heritage significance.

Questions before the heritage tribunal largely involved considerations of the site’s five additional buildings; the relationship held by a “complimentary” 12.1-acre parcel of land adjacent to the Observatory; recognition of views to and from its main buildings (viewscapes); the extent of the cultural heritage landscapes surrounding these buildings; the intent and values of its tree arboretums; the removal of its contents and fixtures; and the boundaries of the site, which should be conserved as an integral whole.

This is a summary of the 61-page CRB Final Report, outlining the tribunal’s final Recommendations and Findings of Fact made to the Town of Richmond Hill.

Recommendations of the CRB:

Based on the evidence heard, the CRB recommended the Town of Richmond Hill

expand its position of approximately 52% coverage on the Observatory’s cultural heritage landscape and add to it a minimum buffer of 150 metres (492 feet), which would provide protection to a minimum of approximately three-quarters of the site. There is no regulation or law stopping the Town extending this boundary to encompass 100% of the property.

The Board also recommended the Town re-examine the evident heritage value of the 12.1-acre ‘panhandle’ found to be associated with astronomer Dr. Clarence Augustus Chant, the prominent scientific and historic figure directly related to the Observatory site.

Further, the Board recommended the Town should also protect and conserve the driveway leading into the Astronomy Campus, known as “Donalda Drive”, and the trees on either side; both the interiors and exteriors of five of the eight structures on the site – the Great Telescope Dome; the Administration Building; the Radio Astronomy Equipment ‘Shack’; the 19^th century farmhouse and garage known both as ‘Elms Lea’ and ‘Observatory House’, and the viewscapes from the south and west to the knoll on which the main astronomy campus sits.

The Board also recommended the Town use great specificity in language to craft its by-law protecting the Observatory’s landscapes, its viewscapes, interior roads, the exterior and interiors of its buildings, and its arboretums planted in service of the Observatory’s scientific operation. And, in the production of this by-law, that it relies upon the greater of resources provided by the research records and photographic exhibits of the Richmond Hill Naturalists.

Hearing Backdrop:

Dedicated in 1935, the Dunlap Observatory became Canada’s greatest scientific astronomical research facility for the better part of 73 years.  The 74-inch telescope is the Dunlap site’s greatest heritage asset and is the only one of six such Empire class instruments, made in the 20^th century, which is still functioning as an astrophysical research tool.

CRB Findings of Fact:

Built-Heritage Structures

• The Great Telescope Dome, its telescope, the Administration Building, the Director’s  Residence – ‘Elms Lea’, its garage and the Radio Astronomy Equipment ‘Shack’, including their interiors and exteriors, were all found to have heritage value and should be protected and conserved.
• The CRB did not find sufficient heritage value in: the utilitarian Caretaker’s Residence and Carport, the Pump House and its water line.

Viewscapes

• The Board found heritage value in the physical topography of the site, the selection of the knoll for the construction of the Great Telescope Dome and the Administration Building and that this setting should not be altered.
• Viewscapes to, from and between the three main buildings were of heritage value, and those from the south and southwest of the property (near the CN rail tracks) up towards the residence Elms Lea, were of particular value and should be conserved.
• Viewscapes to and from the knoll on which the Great Dome and Administration Building sit need to be protected from any development and encroachment.

Cultural Heritage Landscapes (CHL)

• The 10-acre cultural heritage landscape (6%) promoted for conservation by the developer was considered insufficient as it did not encompass the majority of the sites heritage elements or attributes, and was rejected by the Board.
• Community groups, the Richmond Hill Naturalists and Observatory Hill Homeowners Association’s request that 100% of the site be conserved, was rejected by the CRB as being too simplistic, despite it also being the testified position of the Ontario Heritage Trust, an agency of the Ministry of Culture.
• The upgrading of the total cultural heritage landscape from 48% to 52% by the Town, was not seen as sufficient by the Board.
• The Board found the heritage Marsh woodlot (sugarbush), the nursery arboretum of 1939 and open space heritage field farmed since the early 1800s, lying along and to the west of Bayview Avenue, to not have merit in the recommended cultural heritage landscape.

Boundary for the Cultural Heritage Landscape

• The Board found the current legal lot lines of the property (north and south) and its west (CNR tracks) boundary, were sufficient to encompass the heritage attributes contained therein.
• The Board found the eastern boundary promoted by the Town insufficient and its movement further east towards Bayview Avenue better encompasses recognized heritage elements.

In addition, to protect these elements, particularly the arboretum deliberately planted on the same axial line as that of the buildings, a minimum buffer zone of 150 meters (492 feet) is also needed to be instituted to protect the trees and landscape.

Interior Roads

• The Observatory’s entrance road, called Donalda Drive after its donor Jessie Donalda Dunlap, is recognized as being of heritage value, and its curved passage through the arboretum, subsequent route thorough the site and the heritage trees lining its path, have heritage value.

The axial design element

• The Board recognizes the north-south axial line of the north star Polaris on which the telescope and its buildings, the Great Telescope Dome and the Administration Building lie, to be planned by design and intrinsic to the astronomical site.

Heritage Tree Plantings & Arboretums

• The Board finds the site’s north-south axial line is of intrinsic value.  It also applies to the planting of the Observatory’s northern and southern arboretums and, because of this associative cultural aspect, these trees are of value and should be protected.

The Adjacent ‘Panhandle’ of Land

• The CRB also recognizes the importance of the 12.1-acre panhandle of land adjacent to the main trapezoidal parcel on which the Observatory sits, and requests the Town re-visit the history of its purchase, its form and evolution, to ensure protection when possible requests for development are made.
• The Board also finds the history of this ‘panhandle of lands’ association with the main Observatory parcel to be of such substantive cultural value that it needs to be included in the Town’s by-law deliberations.

Chattels & Moveable Property

• Although local community groups asked for the CRB’s consideration of the Observatory’s removed contents, the Board stated it was beyond the scope of its mandate.
• Despite this, the Board did recommend that specific chattels associated with the Observatory should be considered “real property,” and therefore included in the Town’s protective by-law.

Role of the Provincial Minister of Culture

• As a matter of public interest, the CRB commented on the role of Ontario’s Minister of Culture (page 44-5) in this case. It found while the Minister does have the power to act, this is only used in unorganized territories where there is no municipal authority, or where a municipality fails to act.
• To emphasize its overall findings, the Board reminded the Town the David Dunlap Observatory site is of such heritage merit it is eligible for “double designation,” (page 57) under Ontario Regulation 10/06 of the Ontario Heritage Act. It further implies this option could be exercised by the right of Crown, on the same areas and attributes recognized by the Town, or on more extensive ones.

---

See the full CRB Report on the David Dunlap Observatory for more details.

June 12, 2009, Richmond Hill, Ontario — Just days after receiving a decision of the Conservation Review Board of Ontario, which called upon the Town of Richmond Hill to consider preserving the majority of the 189-acre David Dunlap Observatory (DDO) & Park, a local member of parliament is commending the local community’s vision to protect and preserve the entire site.

Peter Kent, MP for Thornhill, and Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas), said “The Dunlap Observatory and surrounding lands are priceless elements of Canadian history.  I’m working with a number of cabinet colleagues on ways we might support the efforts of a passionate group of York Region citizens to protect and preserve the Dunlap Observatory site.”

Minister Kent’s statement is the result of top-level meetings held in Ottawa in early May between concerned York Region residents and government officials. The group met to discuss the possible future of the David Dunlap Observatory and Park, including use of its substantive cultural heritage resources as an economic engine for York Region.

York Region residents knew delivery of the Conservation Review Board report – June 4, 2009 – would create an opportunity for additional provincial and new federal protections to be exercised on the site, alongside those of the Town of Richmond Hill.

“The CRB did just that,” said Marianne Yake, President of the Richmond Hill Naturalists and Ottawa meeting attendee. “It recommended “double-designation” by the Town and Province to protect the Dunlap’s built-heritage, cultural associations, its viewscapes, landscapes, and its natural environment resources. This report opened the door to federal considerations and makes possible a ‘hat-trick’ of heritage protections – local, provincial and federal.”

“As well as the several powerful heritage and environmental arguments for preservation of the Dunlap Observatory park lands, we have to recognize the significant potential groundwater damage to Richmond Hill, and for that matter, Thornhill, if development disrupts the already precarious balance of nature,” said Minister Kent.

Believing passionately the Dunlap site was of national significance, and with little local government response to their concerns, community members contacted the Federal government.   On May 7^th, 2009, the members of this York Region Delegation, drawn from a cross-section of the community, traveled to Ottawa.

Members of this delegation included:

• Ms. Karen Cilevitz – Chair, The David Dunlap Observatory Defenders,
• Ms. Marianne Yake – President, The Richmond Hill Naturalists,
• Ms. Valerie Burke – Markham Town Councillor,
• Dr. Ian K. Shelton – Astronomer, former Dunlap outreach specialist,
• Dr. C. Thomas Bolton – Professor Emeritus, former Dunlap Astronomer,
• Mr. Chungsen Leung – York Region business entrepreneur, and
• Mr. Joseph Shaykewich – Retired Environment Canada meteorologist.

Ms. Carolyn Quinn, of the Ottawa-based Heritage Canada Foundation, also attended the meeting, in support of the York Region residents plan to revitalize the Dunlap site.

The last remaining open green space in south Richmond Hill, the Dunlap site sits at the headwaters of the Don River, and is part of the Oak Ridges Moraine Aquifer Complex.  Evidence of pivotal historic events in Ontario are a part of the Dunlap lands – the 1795-6 blazing of Yonge Street from the forest, settlement by United Empire Loyalists, preparations for the War of 1812, the Rebellion of 1837, the establishment of the Presbyterian Church (1817), the country’s first astronomy campus and it’s largest telescope (1935) and the discovery and confirmation of black holes (1972).

An archaeological survey of the property also raises strong potential for aboriginal impact upon the Dunlap site, prior to its use by European settlers.

“It was an extraordinary meeting. Our presentation was very well received and we’re pleased with the immediate interest shown by our Federal representatives and officials. For the first time in over 19 months, we really feel the Dunlap site could be returned to public hands where it has always belonged,” said Karen Cilevitz, Chair of the DDO Defenders.

“The realization the Observatory site was an economic engine for York Region and Ontario was immediately apparent by all in attendance,” she said.

Astronomer Dr. Ian Shelton said, “This is where the first Canadian astronomers were trained, and many DDO staff members have played important roles in the history of modern astronomy. The discovery and confirmation of the first stellar mass black hole by Professor Tom Bolton is just one example. I had a real sense from our Ottawa meeting that the substantial list of Dunlap accomplishments won’t be just footnotes in an astronomy textbook.”

He continued, “I very much hope all of the heritage contents removed from the Observatory site are returned where they belong, and we can permanently establish the legacy of donor Jessie Donalda Dunlap and astronomer Dr. Clarence Chant. The interiors of these buildings were like walking back in time, filled with 70 years of instruments and literature that were used to keep pace with our rapidly evolving understanding about the true scale and complexity of the universe.  This was, and is, a very special place.”

Minister Kent agreed, and called for all scientific and historic artifacts to be restored to the Dunlap site. “The heritage value of the contents are significantly lessened by these removals, context is everything,” he said.

The Great Telescope, Observatory buildings and its site was donated in trust to the University of Toronto in 1935 by Jessie Donalda Dunlap, in memory of her husband David. Last July, the University sold the property to Corsica Development Inc., a corporation owned in part by Metrus Development Inc.

The University of Toronto continues to have a relationship with its former astronomical campus, as it holds a $35 million dollar mortgage on the property, which it gave interest free to Corsica, for two years. The University subsequently removed the Observatory’s contents, some of them given to a museum in Ottawa.

Nearly three-quarters of a century ago, the Dunlap Observatory site was an asset to a community of 900 farmers, which catapulted the little village of Richmond Hill to the absolute centre of the British Empire. Having one of the world’s largest telescope’s has brought millions of visitors into Richmond Hill and Markham Township, and this injection of economic stability was a financial engine in the local economy during the Depression of the 1930s.

Said Ms. Cilevitz: “The local communities have always known and appreciated the cultural heritage worth of the Dunlap Observatory and Park.  We now feel more confident it will indeed receive the protection and recognition it so richly deserves – that of a National site of great scientific, ecological, and economic significance.”

For further information, contact:

Karen Cilevitz

DDO Defenders
(416) 990-6694
[email protected]

Marianne Yake

RHNaturalists
(905) 883-3047
[email protected]

Dr. Ian Shelton
Astronomer
(905) 762-0072
[email protected] (905) 886-9911

David Belous
Special Assistant (Community Affairs)
Hon. Peter Kent, MP Thornhill
[email protected]

On Saturday, February 9th at noon, members of the Richmond Hill Naturalists, will join fellow citizens in a march to David Dunlap Observatory. With signs and singing and a symbolic march to the Dome, the group will ask the University to cancel or postpone the sale of the Observatory lands so that the Town of Richmond Hill, York Region, and the Ontario and Federal governments can work together to preserve the Observatory and the property upon which it sits.

In November 2007, the University of Toronto put the 190-acre Dunlap property, including the observatory and administration buildings, up for sale through a bidding process. The University is accepting bids until February 15th, 2008. Due to the high price of land in Richmond Hill and the speed of the sale, there has not been enough time for the Town and other levels of government to work together to purchase the property for the public.

In addition to being an internationally respected research facility, the DDO is home to one of Canada’s longest-running public astronomy education programs. For over 70 years, thousands of students have been inspired by DDO lectures and views of planets and stars with the 74-inch telescope. More than 2000 people (mostly current and former Richmond Hill residents) have registered memories and comments on the DDO through an Online Petition.

The February 9th rally is an opportunity for all Richmond Hill residents to show their support for the continued operation and preservation of the David Dunlap Observatory and Park.

Date: Saturday February 9, 2008
Time: Noon
Meeting place: Hillsview Drive and Bayview Avenue

Please come and make your voice heard. Help save the Observatory and create a vibrant new park for Richmond Hill. If you would like to help with this rally, please join the Save David Dunlap Observatory Facebook group.

If you have time to distribute a some rally flyers, you can download a printable PDF rally flyer.

Directions to the David Dunlap Observatory

As reported by the Liberal, The Richmond Hill Naturalists will be out in force on January 16th at noon in front of the Legislature Building at Queen’s Park. The Save the DDO Rally is being organized by friends of David Dunlap Observatory, area residents and their children, RHN members and representatives from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. The rally will be highlighted by the presentation of petitions to the government of Ontario and the University of Toronto. Please come and make your voice heard. Help save the Observatory and create a vibrant new park for Richmond Hill.

Map

A local citizen’s group will be holding a rally to preserve David Dunlap Obersvatory on Thursday, November 8th at 12:30 PM.

Bring your signs and banners to Rally against redevelopment of the David Dunlap Observatory lands! When: 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM on Thursday, November 8 Where: Municipal Offices (Town Hall), 225 East Beaver Creek Road, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3P4

Natalie Helferty has organized a Letter Campaign to express public opposition to the planned widening of Bayview Avenue and to pressure Ontario Environment Minister, Laurel Broten, into re-evaluating the project through a Part II Individual Environmental Assessment. The letter catalogs a host of reasons why road-widening has a negative effect on traffic, business, health and community. Natalie also provides a list of practical recommendations to foster smart commuting and more efficient public transit. Please visit the Letter Campaign page if you would like to encourage greener, healthier development in Richmond Hill.

• Studies show that road widening will increase gridlock, not decrease it
• Wider roads encourage more car use
• Wider roads reduce the friendliness of the community
• Wider roads encourage speeding and street racing
• Wider roads increase speed, but discourage stopping in at local businesses
• Larger parking lots needed if more car use, so removes retail from street living
• Wider roads discourage walking short distances to improve your health
• Wider roads add to air pollution

Possible ways to improve transportation system and alleviate gridlock:

• Access to transit and walking through improved design and infrastructure
• Encouragement of bus use improved through better services and programs

Design:

• Sheltered, heated bus terminals needed close to street
• Local café and convenience store part of bus terminals
• Daycare centres located at major bus terminals
• Dedicated Bus and Car-pool lanes during rush-hour
• Alternating lanes possible to improve rush-hour traffic flow (like Jarvis St downtown)
• Bike-lanes to connect across and along major routes
• All new offices to include bus loop and car-pool lots (e.g., Honda Canada)
• Car-pool parking at Hwy 404 & Major Mackenzie Drive (Provincially owned land)
• Street trees to shade bikers and walkers

Services:

• Encourage daycare centres in offices to reduce in-town travel
• Extended rush-hour bus frequency as takes 1 hour+ to get here from Toronto
• VIVA service up Bayview Avenue
• Secure bike lockers at bus terminals, businesses and offices
• All new offices to include showers and lockers; encourage existing to add them
• Car-pool Web-matching of neighbours (Community Carpooling)
• Car-pool incentive for all office workers in Richmond Hill
• Free local bus service on weekends and late at night to encourage ‘trying it out’
• Paid parking at new offices; Car-pool parking free; subsidy for bus use