Installation of the Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium telescope: inside the Observatory

Description:	People stand on scaffolding during the installation of the telescope in the James Irving Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium. The person on the right is the Butler University Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, Arthur F. Lindberg. A crane was used to lift sections of the telescope through the opening of the dome in preparation for the installation. Manufactured by J. W. Fecker, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the 38-inch Cassegrainian reflector telescope was shipped by truck. The dome was constructed of laminated wood and powered by three Holcomb and Hoke stoker motor and drive units (the dome was replaced with an aluminum dome in 1984). Construction of the Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium took approximately 18 months and fill dirt from the Ross Hall construction site (building opened September 12, 1954) was moved to this location, a high plot of land at the entrance to Holcomb Gardens. Dedicated on Friday, November 5, 1954, the Indiana limestone structure was designed and planned by Lindberg; J. I. Holcomb, Vice President of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee; Dr. Harry E. Crull, Professor of Mathematics and Head of the Department of Mathematics; Robert Frost Daggett, consulting architect; and the firm of Ammerman, Davis and Stout, consulting engineers. On the dedication day, morning classes were shortened, and afternoon classes were cancelled so people could attend the dedication convocation, which was a part of the Homecoming festivities and the start of the celebrations for the Universitys centennial year. Reports vary, but the estimated cost of the building and the telescope was between $325,000 and $350,000, and J. I. and Musetta Holcomb provided the funding for the project. Installed in October 1954, this was not the Universitys first telescope. In 1896, a six-inch refractor telescope was donated to the University by Joseph I. Irwin, along with a small observatory on the Universitys Irvington campus. When the University moved to its current Fairview campus in 1928, the telescope was put into storage until 1934, when Irwins son, William Irwin, had the telescope rebuilt and installed on the roof of Jordan Hall. However, intermittent use due to a lack of astronomy faculty to teach courses saw the roof platform where the telescope was mounted and the telescope itself fall into disrepair, so the telescope was returned to storage. Reconditioned by J. W. Fecker, Inc., the smaller telescope became the guide telescope for the observatorys 38-inch telescope. Dr. Crull became the first Director of the Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium and according to the November 1957, edition of Butler Reports, an estimated 90,000 people visited the structure during its first three years (p. 7).
Origin:	1954-10
Created By:	Houghtalen, H. H.
Source:	http://palni.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/BldgsGrnds/id/2784
Collection:	Butler University Buildings and Grounds Collection
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
Copyright:	In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Geography:	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 39.841474, -86.171414 39.841474 -86.171414
Subjects:	Construction projects Butler University--Employees Telescopes Cassegrainian telescopes Scaffolding Observatory domes Observatories Planetariums Butler University--Buildings College buildings Butler University--History Indianapolis (Ind.)--History People Lindberg, Arthur F. James Irving Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium Holcomb Observatory Fairview campus

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