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Ohio University to Build Observatory on Site of Old TB Ward

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ATHENS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio University plans to build an observatory on the vacant site where a former tuberculosis ward was demolished three years ago.

The Athens Messenger reports the observatory is slated to be built before year’s end at the site known as The Ridges.

The observatory is expected to be open for use by students and community members. It will house the university’s 2-ton telescope, which has been in storage for several years.

Astronomy instructor George Eberts says he inherited the telescope in the early 1980s. It had been housed on top of the Research and Technology Center until a 2012 fire destroyed the shed that held it.

The university says bidding for the observatory project should take place in June, and construction is expected to start in September.