It is ironic that as Shetland celebrates the opening of SaxaVord Spaceport in Unst, Dundee is set to close the Mills Observatory just as interest in Space exploration is on the rise. The culture and heritage of Scotland is being diminished to a tartan clad shortbread tin representation of what was once a nation filled with science and engineering.
Britain’s first purpose built public observatory is threatened with closure. The Mills Observatory on the summit of Balgay Hill is run by Dundee City Council.
A petition has been started by David Millar to try and reverse this decision. David states:
“Some of you may be aware that Dundee council are proposing to close Mills Observatory. A real shame to lose this historic Art Deco building and the Thomas Cooke telescope within. The telescope has fallen into disrepair over the years and requires some major refurbishment.
“The dome is Papier Mache, really interesting and worth preservation.”
Click on this link to sign the petition: MILLS OBSERVATORY CLOSURE
Mills Observatory was gifted to the People of Dundee in 1935 but that gift is about to be disposed of as the council looks to make savings. Dundee City Council has published a public consultation:
The consultation will explore options for the future of the property including:
- an alternative operator taking on the running of the observatory;
- securing new funding, for example by way of grants or sponsorship, to support maintaining the service by Leisure and Culture Dundee or another organisation;
- the closure of the building, with the council continuing to maintain its fabric;
- community asset transfer, with the observatory becoming community owned and run
- any other suggestions identified through the consultation process
The rationale
Limited visitor numbers and rising costs due to inflation mean that it is financially challenging for the Council and LACD to support the observatory. The proposal would contribute £40,000 a year to reducing Leisure and Culture Dundee’s budget shortfall.
The current position
Mills Observatory is currently open from October to March for night sky viewings and April to September on programmed weekends for planetarium shows and family activities. There were 6,654 visitors in 2023/2024
Click on this link to access the consultation: Mills Observatory Consultation
According to Visit Dundee Mills Observatory is the ‘perfect place to see the stars’. “With fascinating space exploration and astronomical displays, planetarium shows and a fully computerised telescope that can detect 30,000 objects in the sky, there’s so much to see, do and learn!”
Dundee City Council is also proposing to cease to operate Broughty Castle Museum and Caird Park Golf Course.
BALGAY PARK
Three parks in one: Balgay, ‘the People’s Own Park’, opened in 1871 (NO 3785 3075, NO33SE 540.00), Lochee, gifted by Cox Brothers (NO 37751, 31048, NO33SE 452), and Victoria Parks, plus the Western Necropolis and Mills Observatory – a Victorian 10” refractor telescope by T Cooke, York, in a 1935 papier mâché dome by Grubb Parsons, Newcastle, (NO 37707 30769, NO33SE 540.03). The only comparable dome by that firm is in Toronto.
These last hills are joined by an elegantly arched cast iron footbridge of 1873 (NO 37605 30745, NO33SE 540.01) with Telford-style crossed braced spandrels designed by George Hird, Burgh Engineer’s Department. The bridge was refurbished by Dundee City Council in 2005-8.
A bandstand pavilion of 1877, damaged by fire in 1993 was reconstructed as an open-air pergola in 1997, the better to show its original (Saracen?) iron spandrels (NO37635 30652, NO33SE 540.02).
M Watson, 2013
Ref: The Treasures of Balgay (2010) CANMORE
And you can find out more here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_Observatory
Fiona Grahame