Koolang Observatory for sale

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi all

I was contacted by Michael from Koolang Observatory, at Bucketty on the Central Coast of NSW.

He advised me that after 20 years, Koolang Observatory is now for sale. Ideally he'd like to sell it as a ongoing astronomy public outreach facility.

I would like to sell Koolang as a working astronomical facility if at all possible. As you would know, it is set up for science outreach and aimed at the general public rather than at the amateur astronomy community but there may be someone in that community interested in taking it on.

Koolang's website is here:
http://www.koolang.com.au

I've been to Koolang several times, and it was my first stop when I got into Astronomy over 6 years ago.

I hope someone with an interest in amateur astronomy and astronomy science education can buy it.

If you're interested, contact Michael through their website or let me know and I can pass on his email address.

Cheers

[koputai (Jason)]

Hmm, does anyone know what is actually there, nothing is shown on the website. Is there a dome? Is there tele-o-scopes? Is there just a square of concrete and you have to BYO scope?

Cheers,
Jason.

[MikeyB (Michael)]

The home page has a picture of people standing beside a 502mm f5 Newtonian reflector described as "the main telescope"

Home Page

[RB (Andrew)]

I took the kids there before buying my first serious scope and getting hooked on astro.
Gee I'd love to buy this property if I had the funds.

From what I remember it's a nice setup with good potential.

[Allan_L (Allan)]

from memory, there are some issues with tall trees effecting the main observing pad (north as I recall).
But yeah it would be good to own and run it.

Do you think we could get funding from local Council to develop it as a tourist attraction? Like the guy at Maidenwell in Qld did.

dreamin'

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Drove past this on the way back from Hunter Valley in our recent Aussie excursion. If I'd known it was there would have stopped off for a quick look-see.
Sorry, wrong side of the ditch fro me and the petty cash tin is a bit skint. Good luck with a sale, shame to lose a good assett like this.

[Rodstar (Rod)]

I hope if someone else purchases it with a view to continuing its operations as an observatory that they make sure that whoever runs the evening lectures knows at least some basics about astronomy! In the past I have had major reservations about the quality of presenters....

[Jen]

owned by all IIS members how cool would that be we should all go into a share and get it up and running with astro camps all year round oh yes to live the dream

[iceman (Mike)]

Originally Posted by Jen

owned by all IIS members how cool would that be we should all go into a share and get it up and running with astro camps all year round oh yes to live the dream

I almost used the location as the spot for the first IISAC, but it just wasn't big enough (not enough open space).

[Allan_L (Allan)]

Originally Posted by Jen

owned by all IIS members how cool would that be we should all go into a share and get it up and running with astro camps all year round oh yes to live the dream

OK Let me See...

Members: 9,527
$100 each
=$952,700

How much did you say they wanted Mike ?

[wayne anderson (Wayne)]

I also hope Koolang continues to operate under new management, I found it was a good venue for introducing people to astronomy basics, many years ago Michael and the crew inspired me to spend more time out observing the night sky, I was motivated to sell the 4 inch Newtonian I was using at that time and upgrade to an 8 inch Meade LX200 and what a difference that made I was now totally hooked on astronomy, after a few years I sold the LX200 to one of the Koolang crew and eventually upgraded to a 12 inch LX200. I sometimes wonder what if Koolang was not there all those years ago when I needed a motivational boost to continue in astronomy.
Koolang has the potential to be so much more with a bit of funding and good management, I hope it all works out well for Michael.

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

Originally Posted by Allan_L

OK Let me See...

Members: 9,527
$100 each
=$952,700

How much did you say they wanted Mike ?

I would put $100 towards that

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Originally Posted by supernova1965

I would put $100 towards that

Mumble, mutter, exchange rate, tax, .... Ok, $127 NZ on current rates and I'm in.

Do we win anything ?

Seriously, if it was that easy I would be in even if my chances of ever going there were almost nil. I think you'd need some 'resident' people to keep it functioning though and that might be the hardest problem to resolve. Would give me a good excuse to take a week off and fly over to cover the roster. Hunter Valley is just up the road ...... Hmmmmm

Anyone got any indication of the real price ?

[h0ughy (David)]

I think the price is $550K but dont quote me on that, there are two houses on site (one long term leased) and an optus mobile phone tower which is an income stream at the southern end of the property, as for the rest of it you has better ask

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

I think the price is $550K but dont quote me on that, there are two houses on site (one long term leased) and an optus mobile phone tower which is an income stream at the southern end of the property, as for the rest of it you has better ask

Lets go for it we could have shares in it and if we still paid $100 each we could build a Dome and fit it out with the extra gear.

[koputai (Jason)]

Let's see:

5500 people at $100 each
550 people at $1000 each
55 people at $10000 each
5 people at $110000 each

Not much chance of any of those happening, 1 person at $550000 is more likely I reckon.

Cheers,
Jason.

[Sam_12 (Sam)]

Does anybody know if the Observatory is still open?

[doppler (Rick)]

Here is the link to the realestate handling the sale
http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...cketty-7345711

[Kunama]

Current Price $510K........................

[Satchmo]

Interesting !