Education

Historic Young Observatory reopens at Riverhead High School

Last week, Riverhead high school astronomy teacher Lance Mion did something no teacher has been able to do since the 1980s: open the door to the school’s historic but long-shuttered Young Observatory.

“It took a community to get it here and it takes a community to keep it going,” Mr. Mion said.

The relaunching of the observatory was celebrated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday.

The event began with remarks from Jeannine Campbell, the district’s director of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and continued with a ribbon-cutting by District Superintendent Augustine Tornatore. He was joined by board of education members Virginia Healy and Colin Palmer. Riverhead Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar was also in attendance.

“It warms my heart when I see students with their smiles going into the observatory and really taking advantage of this wonderful piece of machinery that we have, that most school districts don’t have on Long Island,” Mr. Tornatore said.

The 15-foot telescope within the observatory was built in the early 1930s by John Elliot Young and his father Orville Young. Mr. Young, after attending Riverhead public schools, entered into a partnership with his father and purchased a highly-respected machine shop in Riverhead where the telescope was built.

The telescope contains an eight-inch objective lens that was purchased from Harry Fitz of Southold, son of one of the first commercial telescope-makers in the United States, Henry G. Fitz. The telescope was completed in 1934 after a year and half of hard work.

In 1980, Mr. Young donated the observatory and telescope, which were in his backyard, to the school district. While the observatory was officially dedicated to Mr. Young in 1981 with a lot of help from district personnel and students, it remains unclear when the observatory stopped being used regularly.

George Bartunek, a former teacher at the district who was instrumental in securing the donation of the observatory for the district, was in attendance. He also taught using the observatory in the 1980s and reminisced on those days as he spoke to those in attendance.

“I was just somebody who was in the right place at the right time and didn’t know any better and got involved in this, to tell you the truth,” he said. “There were so many people that made this happen …everybody worked together. It was a very cooperative effort to make it all happen,” Mr. Bartunek said.

Also in attendance at the ribbon-cutting was Peter Danowski, the current owner of the machine shop where the telescope was made.

“It’s a piece of history,” he said. “It still exists in town. I try to do my best to preserve it and I’m hopeful that someone will come along and continue what I have done.”

Mr. Tornatore thanked Ms. Aguiar for helping secure the funds to make the reopening possible. 

“She helped me with this journey, and [funded] it through grant funds that they received and that they were able to put aside so that we could do this,” he said.

Ms. Aguiar said she hopes the observatory “will inspire generations of students to learn about the wonders and marvel of our galaxy.”

“I know teachers here who went through school, Riverhead High School and never went in there. It was this dark space… there was a lot of mystique in this and we opened the doors today and the mystique is gone. The best part is that the entire community came together,” she said.

It was also announced during the ceremony that local developer Joseph Petrocelli, who also helped get the observatory reopened, would be donating his services. 

Mr. Mion said having the functioning observatory will help him to “[take] things off the paper and [use] it in the practical sense.”

“When we talk about stars now, you can actually look at a star, you can look at the sun and you can look at the planets,” he said. “And I think that brings that experience much closer to the kids. They get more out of it that way.”

Some other plans for the observatory include a new telescope donated by the town, according to Ms. Campbell.

“The telescope has a lot of history and I’m sure we’ll keep it as a monument for our school district, but we’re going to work to research some newer technology so that we can keep the observatory up and running and current for students to come,” she said.

High school principal Sean O’Hara said students are curious and extremely excited about being able to use the observatory. He said he also recognizes the possibilities that it offers to the Riverhead community as well.

“I think maybe it could potentially be an option for an adult education program down the road,” he said. “I think it might be a nice share piece for the entire community.”