(Courtesy: Foundation for Apalachian Ohio)

An observatory and astronomy park dedicated to John Glenn is planned to be built at Hocking Hills.

The Friends of Hocking Hills State Park and the Columbus Astronomical Society started planning the John Glenn Astronomy Park back in 2016.

With the passing of John Glenn, the park has seen an increase in funding. As of this writing, the park has received 60 percent of their $1.6 million funding goal.

Per the Columbus based M+A Architects blog post by project coordinator Lucia Hoehne, the site of the park is elevated enough for the telescope to be above the fog that collects on the ground.

The park will serve as an educational, recreational and research-oriented astronomy center featuring sundials, openings to mark solstices and equinoxes by sunlight, seating for lectures, and fields for telescopes and stargazing.

The observatory will house a large telescope for planetary nebulas, globular clusters, and galaxies. A second telescope will be used for astrophotography. Also, a small solar telescope will able to be taken to the plaza for public demonstrations.

The Friends of Hocking Hills State Park says that construction will start in the spring of 2017 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

The rest is here:

Astronomy park dedicated to John Glenn planned for Hocking Hills - ABC6OnYourSide.com