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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 2000)
Summer Sayles: Amateur miniature horse champion Looking for the comics? What’s in your future? Check out the profile on Page 4 You can find them on page 7 Check out the horoscopes on PageS www.ClackamasPrint.com Wednesday, October 18, 2000 Clackamas Community College Oregon City, Oregon aggart Observatory: one CORINNERUPP Staff Writer ■A new deck was placed on the Hpggart Astronomical Observa tory last week, bringing it one step closer to re-opening. ■About 15 people watched as a 50-ton crane began to hoist the steel structure into position. It took ten hours altogether to move the 16,000-pound deck. The new deck will provide a solid base for the warming hut and dome that, along with a 24-inch f/4.8 Newtonian re flector telescope, make up the rest of the observatory. ,---------------- Harold Haggart L* built the observa- ) tory in 1948 on his < property in Redland, Ore. His widow, Darcy Haggart, do- '£ nated the dome, ■p which is 16 feet in diameter, to the John Inskeep Environmental Learning Center (ELC). Since its opening in 1989, the Haggart Ob- ¿rvatory has been the only pub lic observatory in the Portland metropolitan area. Over the years, v thousands of people have come through its doors to take a closer look at our universe. » ■The observatory has been dosed to the public for almost two j years while much-needed renova- tion s of the structure were completed. " 1 Placing the new deck on the ob- servatory makes possible the last remaining steps in the rebuilding process. Still to come is building the new warming hut, placing the dome back on top, and training volunteers to educate visitors about meteors, comets, moons, planets and stars. New technology will be intro duced, with computers, to the old structure. Soon, the observatory will be connected to the informa tion superhighway. The ELC is hoping to add a camera to the tele scope, creating the ability to down load pictures of the sky on the Internet. “This also means that in times of bad weather here, we can look at the sky in, say, Sunriver and still be able to educate people coming in,” said Dawn Todd of the ELC. “There are so many opportunities —:----------- 1 with technology that we are able to use now. The only thing restricting us is money.” The rebuilding of the observatory has been a com pletely volunteer effort. Coast Crane - the same company that brought the dome to Clackamas ten years ago - donated their ser vices for Tuesday’s event. And they are not the only company that has volunteered time, money or effort to this project. Andersen Construction has been supervis ing the project every step of the way, keeping the rebuilding efforts up to code. Many others have donated products and services to the demo- lition and rebuilding of the obser- vatory. More than $70,000 has al ready been raised from the com munity to cover the cost of this massive renovation, but the project is far from over. Donations to cover the remaining $ 15,000 are still being accepted by the ELC, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2 o com MIKE POLLOCK / Clackamas Print The steel platform took about ten hours to be lifted onto the observatory structure last week. Work on the observatory should be completed for re-opening in mid-November. and are tax-deductible. Many environmentally sensitive products were used in the restruc turing of the nearly 50 year old structure, from post-consumer milled steel to recycled plastic prod ucts. With good luck, the observa tory will re-open in mid-November. Anyone interested in more informa tion or becoming a volunteer may contact Todd at the ELC, 503-657- 6958, ext. 2633. $47 million bond would improve outdated, over crowded facilities This bond, Measure 3-97, would go to improve technology, add classrooms and upgrade aging fa cilities at the college, and would cost taxpayers only 20 cents for every $1000 of assessed property value. Clackamas’ last bond was ap proved in 1989 and went to build News Editor the Streeter, Dye and Gregory ■ The $47 million Clackamas Com buildings, and the building in munity College bond will be on the Wilsonville. After 11 years, the col Nov. 7 ballot again after failing to lege now desperately needs money pass last May. to add facilities and fix the existing ones to meet the rapid growth the college is expe riencing. “The bond would give the college flexibility to build classrooms, correct aging buildings and keep up with technology,” said col lege President John Keyser. “This would give us the only source of money we have to address the build ing concerns.” In the last six years, Clackamas enrollment has grown 30 percent, and en rollment is expected to ex STEVE NIELSEN / Clackamas Print ceed original projections of another 30 percent, accord Facility repairs are a major element in CCC's bond measure. STEVE NIELSEN ing to Keyser. This kind of growth has pushed classes and faculty into every available space. The Bill Brod Community Cen ter, which used to be entirely used by students for study and social activities, is now filled to capacity with offices and student services. The areas that are now registra tion and financial aid were formerly used to host billiard exhibitions, movies and concerts. If the bond passes, the school will add a whole second level to the community center. Several programs must occupy spaces in multiple buildings, often in places not equipped for those programs. “Facilities aren’t designed for what they’re being used for,” said Gary Nelson, chair of Clackamas’ music department. He sits in an office jammed with paperwork and music equipment. The office was originally intended as a wrestling room. Randall Hall, intended to be a physical education facility, also has four classrooms in a space de signed to be handball courts, and a music classroom that doubles as a hallway. Nelson’s office contains a rare bit of history. Most of one wall is cov ered with cassette tapes of the Ed Beach Jazz Collection. Ed Beach, a New York disc jockey, kept record ings of all the Jazz musicians who appeared on his show. One copy of his collection is in Nelson’s of fice; the other is in the Smithsonian. The music department’s cramped conditions also make it hard to recruit new talent. “It’s hard to recruit people be cause all the high schools have bet ter facilities,” said Nelson. “Other [colleges] have much better facilities, so that’s where the new recruits go.” See Bond, page 8
