Hi Phil,
It is not dead, but it is less attractive than it used to be.
Lack of facilities and politics etc (I wont bore you on open forum)
That doesn't mean we can't still use it, However,
The forcast for tomorrow night is severe cloud coverage fro 7pm to 7am.
typical for a new moon
If you (or anyone else) have any alternate ideas for (relatively) local observing sites, for the future, there are plenty of interested parties.
Failing this, Bretti is FREE, has facilities, allows camping up to 30 days, and is darker. And at 3 hours drive is accessible.