Hi Sharon,
The trouble is there is nothing else of astronomical interest there so I'm fairly sure no-one bothers - I only stumbled on them by accident once long ago when attending a BBQ in Parramatta park.
I know this may seem heretical to you, but unless there is something of considerable astronomical interest - sufficient to draw visitors regularly, they may as well not be there at all.
I came to this conclusion long ago - in 1989 I toured Europe for 3 months and among other things set out to see as many things as I could of astronomical historical interest in England and France.
Among many things, I visited the site of what had once been the old Paris observatory, where nothing remained except the stone pier of a meridian telescope. I was so disappointed after a fair journey to find it that I concluded that unless you have something actually worth showing, it's better to show nothing at all. Pretending that a lump of stone - or in your case, two - are worth visiting out of some sort of historical interest is just dishonest.
I visited to Europe again last year and among other things visited Greenwich. It was very very sad to see it renamed a "museum of time" and the vast majority of the exhibits I saw in 1989 had been removed. As I had taken my wife hoping to show her many of the things I had once studied as a student (she is interested) I felt sorely annoyed that most of the point of the trip was gone - and if I had known, we wouldn't have wasted a day going there. A shop in the basement selling badly-made replica junk (imported from India BTW) is no substitute for the real exhibits.
This reinforced that to me - as one who originally trained in physics and astronomy and has an enduring interest for 40 years - that the real interest lies in the equipment and records - the buildings themselves are of little interest, and if they are to be left empty they may as well close the museum.
In your case, a couple of stones aren't enough to draw visitors.
Better to simply admit that the interesting bits - the telescopes and observatory - are all gone. Pull up the stumps and send them to Sydney observatory where they can display them in a glass case, if you think it's worth it (I don't).
If on the other hand you had the funds to put a decent small observatory in the park with a nice refractor in it, and open that to the public for a look at the moon and planets on clear nights, that might actually draw some interest. Having the stones outside would be a nice touch. You'd probably even find someone keen enough to operate it for you, at no cost.
But I'm guessing that finding the funds for that would be beyond you.
Last edited by Wavytone; 29-01-2013 at 10:10 PM.
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