Archaeology lab to move into old observatory

By Lauren Busto

The Ricard Memorial Observatory is undergoing renovations to prepare it for the archeology department to use as a lab. Joe Sugg, assistant vice president for university operations said the construction includes lead and asbestos abatement, as well as improvements for earthquake safety to make it functional as a lab.

After 20 years of occupying the first floor of Ricard, media services has moved to the new learning commons, leaving the building vacant. So the university is using this opportunity to bring it up to code, Sugg said.

The observatory, which is located in Mission Gardens, was built in 1928 as a memorial to Jerome S. Ricard, S.J., for his achievements in discovering the use of sun spot activity for predicting weather.

Ricard was dubbed "Padre of the rain" because of his ability to predict rainfall far in advance by studying spots on the sun's surface.

During his lifetime, the building and the telescope it housed were constantly in use. However, interest in the observatory declined after Ricard's death in 1930, and the increase in population in the Silicon Valley caused a rise in pollution that local scientists believed interfered with the telescope.

The telescope was last used in the early 1990s for observations of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. However, it was closed soon after because of the toxic materials in the dome.

This move is part of the multi-departmental space switching that is occurring due to the recent opening of the library and planned opening of the new business school.

Sugg said the master plan for moving offices and classrooms around campus began last year when the university realized the business school and learning commons would finish around the same time, leaving extra office and classroom space around campus.

"The goal is to try to come up with the best fit of using these buildings that are vacated to meet the requirements of the organizations that are space crunched," Sugg said.

As a part of the contract with the city in building the new business school, the university has added around 100 parking spaces to the lot east of the Arts and Sciences building.

The Field House, the one-story building north of Bannan Hall where the archeology lab is currently housed, will be torn down at the end of summer to add about 30 more spaces.

Some frustrations have been expressed about the decision to use the observatory as a lab instead of utilizing the telescope.

Russell Skowronek, campus archeologist and archeology professor, said he is frustrated that the university is willing to invest $95 million into the new learning commons and $48.5 million into the business school but can only find $1.6 million for the observatory.

Skowronek said the original plan involved adding an extension for the storage of archived collections, an elevator for access to the main dome and smaller improvements in the rooms designated for analysis and teaching.

But that plan was rejected for lack of money , he said.

He said he is skeptical that the university will keep these additions as the long-term plan, Skowronek said.

"I guess they're putting the archeology lab in a historic building because we deal with the history and prehistory of the campus," he said. But without the changes, he said he cannot see them successfully fitting into Ricard.

Richard Barber, Jr., chair of the physics department, said that there is a sense of disappointment that Ricard is not being restored and reopened as an observatory, but he said he is hopeful that the telescope will not be rendered "a permanently blind eye" and will be usable in the future.

Linda Hylkema, assistant campus archeologist, said she anticipates some growing pains in the move, especially concerning the lack of storage space.

However, she said she is optimistic that the change will ultimately provide the program with more exhibit space.

"We can hopefully let the community know a little more about what we're doing. I don't have the capacity to do that now," she said.

Rafael Ulate, assistant dean for the College of Arts and Sciences, said the university had to weigh the costs of restoring the building as an observatory against making it livable for the archeology lab.

For resource reasons, the university decided the lab was a better choice right now, Ulate said.

Contact Lauren Busto at (408) 554-4546 or lbusto@scu.edu