TCAA History - Construction of SGO

In his January 1998 “Presidential Letter,” Avo pointed out that the Sugar Grove Nature Center (SGNC) at Funk’s Grove was just starting to be developed, and that the possibility of a TCAA observatory on site existed. SGNC was to be established on an abandoned farmstead about five miles south-southwest of Shirley, Illinois. Later that month, Avo (assisted by the efforts of Sandy McNamara, Mike Rogers, and Duane Yockey) solicited the Funk Family Foundation with the idea of erecting a public observatory augmented with regular public programs. A formal proposal was made to the SGNC Board on February 10, 1998, with approval coming shortly thereafter. As part of the agreement, the SGNC would help with some of the construction materials. Following the observatory proposal approval, William Carney, Duane Yockey, Dan Miller, and Mike moved the 10-foot Ash dome from storage at Game Designers Workshop to temporary storage in the white barn at SGNC. William and Avo cleaned and painted the dome while it was held in storage there until such time as the observatory was ready for its installation.

By March 9, an architect by the name of Don Gronert, developed initial drawings for a modest observatory, and later that same month an inaugural members-only observing session took place at SGNC. Over the course of the year, the rather simple plan developed by Avo had “exploded” to become a $100,000 facility with a spiral incline for use with the disabled, and contained an adjoining building that would contain a meeting room, storage space, sleeping quarters, and restrooms. This was a great expansion over the original plan of developing a small observatory on the existing rectangular corncrib foundation between the Nature Center and a barn to the northeast. Within a short time, the club came to understand that only a smaller structure could ever be built in light of club limitations, and that design was dropped for a smaller, simpler facility.

The final placement and style of the observatory were dictated by solutions to requirements set by the SGNC Board during 1999. The TCAA initially had planned a shorter building – a ground-level dome with attached warm up room, or even a roll off attachment – but this was not consistent with the SGNC’s vision. The club needed to blend the observatory’s appearance with the “farm” look of the Nature Center. The final SGO design was a compromise – a silo effect that would blend in with “the look” of the Nature Center. It’s placement was dictated by a need to eventually interface it with an instructional area the SGNC Board was planning to build next to it, and the height was dictated by the need to see over the adjoining buildings because it was so close to them. It still had a computer room, storage room, and observatory areas that were wanted, but they were stacked instead of being spread out into a larger ground-level complex.

Construction of the Sugar Grove Observatory (SGO) began in a snowstorm on March 11, 2000, with just over $1,000 in the club’s treasury. Avo, Bob, Mike, Dan, and Allan Timke were at the core of the building activity, as was former club member Jim Baker. Taking a strong lead was vice president Vince Burdette (owner of Holder Construction Company), who was a project manager at the time for a large development at State Farm. Vince obtained the assistance of several trade unions before he left to head up a construction project in Argentina. He also was able to get lots of material donations, as well as many of his crew to volunteer hours for the framing of the building including bringing in scaffolding for the initial framing of the building.

Avo Vill, Bob Cuberly, Mike Rogers, William Carney, and Duane Yockey were there for a lot of the beginning foundation work. With the departure of Vince, Jim Baker took over the leadership on the project, and immediately worked to install the stairs. Evidently, there was disagreement about the stability of the column put in place to hold the telescope at this time. The pier was a narrow, 20-foot high, unsupported vertical column prone to vibration. This disagreement led to two members departing the project and, ultimately, the club. Dan and Michael took care of supervising and doing much of the remaining construction. They donated their weekends, evenings, and often their personal funds to finish the structure. They spent most of the summer of 2000 doing the interior work. They, along with their families, laid the flooring and smoothed and sanded the walls and painted them. Sandy McNamara and Jean Memken did much of the plastering and painting in the building. They, along with Brian Barling, helped Mike and Dan put up interior paneling. Roy Lawry helped out with painting, and paid for the Tyvek for the outside. Other members contributed time and energy as well. SGNC provided for the hardwood exterior covering to give the SGO a consistent look with the rest of the Nature Center buildings. A crane was arranged to place the reassembled 10-foot Ash dome atop the structure.

The construction job was completed by the next January, but the opening was delayed until the February Annual Meeting that would be held at SNGC. The first telescope housed under the SGO’s 10-foot Ash dome was Mike Roger’s 1978 vintage 14-inch Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain that had been in place at the Marie Antoinette Observatory at Downs. The observatory saw “first light” at the February 20, 2001, Annual Meeting. The night was clear and cold, and the guest speaker for the evening – astronomer Dr. James Brown from Millikin University – adapted an imaging camera to the telescope.

From start to finish, the construction job took only about ten months, and hardly affected the balance of the club treasury – so fiscally responsible and generous (in time, talent, and treasure) were those who constructed the observatory! From the time of its proposal to its completion, the time involved in the negotiations for and construction of the SGO took three years of concerted effort. Duane Yockey was the first official key holder.

There were other interesting events during this time as well. Of especial note was the 2000 Annual Meeting – the 40th anniversary of the TCAA. Some 50 club members attended the festive banquet, and “well over 100” were present (including members of the general public) to listen to Dr. Ray Villard talk about the Hubble Space Telescope. Dr. Villard was then the director of the Press Information Office of the Space Telescope Science Institute of Baltimore, Maryland.

Bob Cuberly and Sandy McNamara wrote monthly newsletter columns around this time as well dealing with telescope technology and observing clubs relating to celestial objects among the constellations respectively. Jean Memken and Mike Rogers continued their periodic reviews of astronomical sites around the world including observatories and planetariums. Mike provided articles about NASA space missions from time to time.