John Hlynialuk of the Bruce County Astronomical Society says the facility will be constructed at the site of the Bluewater Board of Educations’s outdoor education centre near Oliphant.
He says three groups are partnering to raise money for the construction of the facility, the Astronomical Society, The Bluewater Education foundation and the Outdoor Education Centre.
Hlynialuk says they hope to raise about 90 thousand dollars for the observatory part of the facility, but there will be additional buildings added in the future.
He says this observatory will not be like the domed facilities one sees high up on many mountains in the world, but will be a building much like a large garden shed but will have a removable roof on rollers.
Hlynialuk says they chose this design because that will allow them to have as wide open an area as possible to view the sky.
He says the observatory will have one large telescope and a number of smaller ones to allow as many people as possible to look at the night sky.
Hlynialuk says this will be a publicly accessible observatory and when completed will be the larges of its type in Ontario.
He says a special Valentine Day fund raising kick off 100 mile dinner will be held at the Outdoor Education to officially launch the campaign.
