UNPREDICTABLE weather has caused £10,000 of damage to Moffat’s observatory.
The community observatory was built in 2021 and is run by volunteers and members of the Moffat Astronomy Club, but now the observatory’s specialist roof has started to deteriorate.
Giving more detail about the state of the roof, club member Jim Connechen told the Moffat News: “Over time the storms and winds have weakened the observatory roof and now there is water coming in. It doesn’t look like there is damage on the outside but inside there is damage. It’s not too extensive at the moment but it is weakening the roof structure.
“Our dome is also at risk of damage, and in order to repair the roof we would need to remove the dome, strip back the roof and start again.
“It will be a challenging task but we built the observatory and the dome was purchased from a company to who installed it for us.”
Last week the club secured a £500 grant from Moffat and District Community Council to go towards the new roof, which is estimated to cost £10,000.
Jim added: “We are hoping to contract out the work but if we don’t raise enough money we’ll have to do a DIY job and that can take a bit longer, but we there are groups within the town who we can call upon for help.
“We’re very grateful to Moffat Community Council for granting our funding application, they have always been very supportive of the observatory and the club.
“We have another two grant applications pending so we should hear by the end of March if we’ve been successful with those.
“I’m confident we’ll be able to get funding in place, but we still have some time to look at our options.”
