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At night, The Warner Swasey Observatory looks up, blind, into a sky obscured by the glow of a community which once yearned for it’s talents.  In 1919, two American mechanical engineers who shared a passion for astronomy funded a brick & mortar project for Case School of Applied Science which later became Case Institute for Technology which federated with Western Reserve University to become Case Western Reserve University. The two men, Worcester Reed Warner and Ambrose Swasey, turned their passion, a small building and a 9.5 inch telescope into the Warner Swasey Observatory to be used to teach and further the research of astronomy; it was dedicated on October 12, 1920. In 1939, the observatory was expanded to include a new telescope, auditorium and exhibit hall to serve the growing community and university interest in Astronomy. In 1963, above the dim lights of Cleveland the observatory was again expanded to serve the purposes of the growing university. Over the next twenty years, students and professors continued to teach, learn, and research in this facility, but the city lights grew brighter each year and polluted the sky.  Finally in 1982, without a starry sky, the research and teaching responsibilities of the facility were moved onto the University’s campus and the telescope was moved to a new location on Kitt Peak south of Tucson, AZ. Now, for nearly thirty years, the observatory has sat abandoned. The Warner Swasey Observatory stands in the dark hallway of a quiet house, and the glow of a bedroom lamp leaks beyond an open door onto the heels of its red brick feet. Reaching into the air, fumbling for a remembered wall, it can not catch a bearing. The neighbors have fallen asleep to a skipping record again, but the distant noise is lost when the searching hand knocks against the frame of some old door - relief. But then again, what use is knowing where you are if you have nowhere to go.

At night, The Warner Swasey Observatory looks up, blind, into a sky obscured by the glow of a community which once yearned for it’s talents. 

In 1919, two American mechanical engineers who shared a passion for astronomy funded a brick & mortar project for Case School of Applied Science which later became Case Institute for Technology which federated with Western Reserve University to become Case Western Reserve University. The two men, Worcester Reed Warner and Ambrose Swasey, turned their passion, a small building and a 9.5 inch telescope into the Warner Swasey Observatory to be used to teach and further the research of astronomy; it was dedicated on October 12, 1920. In 1939, the observatory was expanded to include a new telescope, auditorium and exhibit hall to serve the growing community and university interest in Astronomy. In 1963, above the dim lights of Cleveland the observatory was again expanded to serve the purposes of the growing university. Over the next twenty years, students and professors continued to teach, learn, and research in this facility, but the city lights grew brighter each year and polluted the sky.  Finally in 1982, without a starry sky, the research and teaching responsibilities of the facility were moved onto the University’s campus and the telescope was moved to a new location on Kitt Peak south of Tucson, AZ. Now, for nearly thirty years, the observatory has sat abandoned.

The Warner Swasey Observatory stands in the dark hallway of a quiet house, and the glow of a bedroom lamp leaks beyond an open door onto the heels of its red brick feet. Reaching into the air, fumbling for a remembered wall, it can not catch a bearing. The neighbors have fallen asleep to a skipping record again, but the distant noise is lost when the searching hand knocks against the frame of some old door - relief. But then again, what use is knowing where you are if you have nowhere to go.

Posted in Cleveland Ohio Warner Swasey Observatry Worcester Reed Warner Ambrose Swasey Astronomy | 23 notes
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