Earth Hour in Richmond HillSaturday March 27th from 8pm onwards
Turn out your lights and come join us for
Astronomy Night – Navigating the Night Sky
You will find us located on the hill just outside the Richmond Hill Central Library – North side of Hopkins, West of Yonge, South of Major Mackenzie Drive.
Spread the word: please download and forward our 2010 Earth Hour Flyer
The Symphony of Science is a musical project by John Boswell designed to deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form. Here you can watch music videos, download songs, read lyrics and find links relating to the messages conveyed by the music. Who knew the likes of Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye could teach us about the universe and sing. With the help of modern autotuning technology, digital sampling and his impressive video editing skills, Boswell weaves together haunting melodies and stunning visuals in this growing collection of science music. So far he is focusing on the wonders of the cosmos, but this approach could be used to promote biology and botany just as easily. Let’s hope the Symphony of Science continues to unfold and expand.
The public is invited to an Open House being held as part of the David Dunlap Observatory Lands Planning and Conservation Management Study for the Town of Richmond Hill (see study area map in PDF link below). The Open House will be held at the Yorkshire Room, Langstaff Community Centre, located at 155 Red Maple Road, Richmond Hill Ontario. Please join us on:
October 20th, 2009 7pm to 9.30 pm
Power Point Presentation 7.15 pm.
The intent of the David Dunlap Observatory Lands Planning and Conservation Management Study is twofold: 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. Staff from the Town and Planning Alliance (the consulting firm retained to lead the David Dunlap Observatory Lands Planning and Conservation Management Study), will describe the study process, what a conservation management strategy is, and how it will guide the future vision of the David Dunlap Observatory Lands.
Details: http://www.richmondhill.ca/documents/ddo_pcmstudy_open_house.pdf
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. 14th, 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 scienti c, 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 o ffiicemayor@richmond hill.ca or the entire Councill at Council_Members. [email protected]. Or use this time-saving sample letters. Make the di fference. SIGN UP Richmond Hill !
Richmond Hill, Ontario – July 8, 2009. — Canada’s Top Endangered Cultural Place is The David Dunlap Observatory & Park in Richmond Hill. This new title was given to the 189-acre site by Heritage Canada Foundation (HCF), as selected from 10 of the nation’s other significantly threatened cultural landmarks.
(Visit: http://www.heritagecanada.org/eng/news/new.html#July7_09)
“This national recognition acknowledges the Dunlap Observatory site’s importance on the Canadian landscape. It validates our position it must be protected from development, not only as a statement of this country’s values, but because of its contribution to the world’s evolution of science and astronomy in the 20th century,” said Marianne Yake, President of the Richmond Hill Naturalists.
Heritage Canada Foundation, also known as Heritage Canada, is a registered charity and a trustee of the Crown. Through its membership, it represents almost 100,000 culturally concerned citizens and organizations working in heritage industries. Their mandate is to foster and encourage the understanding, protection and sustainable evolution of Canada’s Cultural Landscape, in particular the architectural heritage of that landscape. HCF also has strong links to Parks Canada Agency and the Historic Sites and Monuments Board, both of which report to Jim Prentice, Federal Minister of the Environment.
In early May, a delegation of York Region residents travelled to Ottawa and met with Minister Prentice; Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Americas) Peter Kent; and Mr. Alan Latourelle, CEO of Parks Canada, regarding the plight of the Dunlap Observatory and Park.
Said Minister Kent: “The Foundation’s identification of the Dunlap Observatory and Parklands as top of the list of endangered national heritage sites is wonderful news and a wakeup call that should reverberate in the hallowed corridors of one of Canada’s best-endowed Universities, in the executive offices of one of Canada’s most respected development companies, and the council chambers of a wonderful community that professes great affection for historic places and the environment.”
He continued: “This is great news and will be noted by policy-makers of our federal government. I hope that it finally catches the attention of the Ontario government ministers responsible for Heritage and the Environment.”
This award is the pinnacle certifying the many steps local citizens have taken during a 20-month battle to preserve their 1935 landmark for all Canadians to enjoy. Led by the Richmond Hill Naturalists, local citizens and the community have made $250,000 in direct contributions and dedicated some $2.25 million in volunteer hours to underwrite sweeping protections for the Dunlap Observatory site.
“The Dunlap is a sacred place, it is one of the last undisturbed tracts of open green space in the Region. It contains the full imprint of mankind from the Ice Age to the Atomic Age. This property is of incalculable heritage value and should be kept intact – free from the fate of becoming just another patch of urban sprawl,” Ms. Yake said.
The Dunlap Observatory was selected by Heritage Canada Foundation not only because of development threats – the unnecessary removal of its contents by the University of Toronto, the number of insensitive physical changes inflicted on the Dunlap site by the new landowner, and the lack of provincial and municipal response to curb these unfortunate changes, were also contributing factors.
Minister Kent reflected, “I hope that the HCF’s proclamation will move the U of T to return priceless scientific fittings and instruments stripped from the Dunlap Observatory when it was sold.”
Last July, the Dunlap site was purchased by Corsica Development Inc., a joint venture company shared in part by Metrus Development Inc. The U of T holds a $35 million, two year interest-free mortgage on its previous holding. Following the sale, a treasure trove of scientific artifacts were removed from the Dunlap buildings by the U of T. These buildings are now bare of their intrinsic heritage assets – astronomical instruments, documentation, books, photographic records, furniture, portraiture and machine shop equipment – a time capsule now lost.
“This is remarkable recognition for a remarkable place,” said Karen Cilevitz, Chair of the David Dunlap Observatory Defenders, another local community group also working to protect the Dunlap site.
“For 20 months we have been dedicated to securing the protection and conservation of this National site. Our hope now, with the Dunlap Observatory and Park being credited as the most endangered heritage site in Canada, the Town of Richmond Hill and the province will work hand in glove to secure their landmark for Canadian history – this site must be protected and conserved as an integral whole with no development allowed”.
To assist in achieving these protections for the site, the Richmond Hill Naturalists took the property owner and the town of Richmond Hill to heritage court in January winning significant protections for the site. The Board recommended to the town of Richmond Hill most of the land and 5 of 8 structures should be a protected as a Cultural Heritage Landscape.
(Visit: http://www.crb.gov.on.ca/english/Reports/2009_reports.html )
The Town can honour the Board’s recommendations, alter them, or dismiss them entirely. The balance of the property will have significant restrictions placed on it to protect it from inappropriate development.
Ms. Yake said, “While we recognize our Town Councillors are under tremendous pressure in this case, we expect them to do the right thing – protect the entire site, period. We have had to bear financial burdens beyond that which a non-profit group should have to shoulder to speak for a public place.”
“We believe we have reached a tipping point because of Heritage Canada Foundation’s decision of the Dunlap site as Canada’s most endangered heritage place. This notable recognition instills in us the hope that the Town and the Province will now consider this treasured place as specific and as important as does a Federal agency and members of the Federal Government,” Ms. Cilevitz said.
For further information, please contact:
Marianne Yake
President
Richmond Hill Naturalists
(647) 241-7472
[email protected]
Karen Cilevitz
Chair
DDO Defenders
(416) 990-9964
[email protected]
David Belous
Special Assistant (Community Affairs) for
The Honourable Peter Kent, MP Thornhill,
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Americas)
(905) 886-9911
[email protected]
YORK REGION DELEGATION TO OTTAWA – May 7th, 2009
(left to right) Joseph Shaykewich – Meteorologist; Chungsen Leung – Entrepreneur;
Valerie Burke – Markham Councillor; Marianne Yake – President, Richmond Hill Naturalists; Karen Cilevitz – Chair, DDO Defenders; Dr. Ian Shelton – Astronomer.
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 19th, 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 19th 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 20th century, which is still functioning as an astrophysical research tool.
Built-Heritage Structures
Viewscapes
Cultural Heritage Landscapes (CHL)
Boundary for the Cultural Heritage Landscape
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 axial design element
Heritage Tree Plantings & Arboretums
The Adjacent ‘Panhandle’ of Land
Chattels & Moveable Property
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 7th, 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. 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]
Just a reminder to our members to attend the hearings on the David Dunlap Observatory. Please set aside time to attend for a hour, half or full day. The hearing for The David Dunlap Observatory is before the Conservation Review Board on:
When: January 15 & 16, and January 19 through 23rd, 2009.
10am – 4pm
Where: Town of Richmond Hill
Committee Room 2
225 East Beaver Creek,
Richmond Hill,
(North of Hwy #7, West of the 404 and East of Leslie Street)
Please also consider sending a letter to the Ontario and Federal governments calling for the full protection of the DDO.
The administration building, Observatory Dome, Pre-Confederation Homestead, and other buildings are set on a 189 acre farm property in Richmond Hill. This site has a rich history in aboriginal, early Upper Canada pioneer, and later in 1933 the establishment of the University of Toronto’s Astronomical Campus.
The administration building designed in 1933 by the Toronto architectural firm, Mathers and Haldenby, and the Observatory Dome by Grubb and Parson were built to the specifications of Dr. Clarence A. Chant (Father of Canadian Astronomy) and Jessie Donalda Dunlap as a memorial to her late husband David Alexander Dunlap (founder of Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mines).
The surrounding community is supporting complete designation and re-use of this site as a working musuem allowing public outreach, astronomy research and education. From 1995 with Canada’s first light abatement bylaw (light pollution is not an issue) and a new heritage designation bylaw that needs to be strengthen, this Provincial and Nationally significant site can be protected. The Richmond Hill Naturalists, Observatory Hill Ratepayers, the Town of Richmond Hill and Corsica Development will be before the CRB for adjudication. Designation concerns related to this property, are the movable artefacts which are central to the heritage value of this site. Affixed assets have been removed from the site.
The Board chair will set aside some time for the the public opportunity to speak about the Observatory and/or history of the property. We will let you know when this date is set.
Thanks and hope to see you there!
Marianne Yake
The Richmond Hill Naturalists invite you to join the RHN Astronats for an evening of stargazing at Phyllis Rawlinson Park. Come out and meet amateur and professional astronomers and learn How To Navigate the Night Sky.
Friday, November 21
7:30 p.m.
Phyllis Rawlinson Park
11715 Leslie Street, Richmond Hill
(North of 19th Avenue, south of Stouffville Road on the east side)
Arrive at 8:00 p.m. Come to the end of the driveway.
Participants should dress warmly: layers, outdoor shoes, gloves, hats. Please bring binoculars and a flashlight. Cover the flashlight lens in red tissue paper. Some telescopes will be provided
RSVP: Marianne (905) 883-3047 or [email protected]