The Cincinnati Observatory's Big Building Is Closed Into 2027. This Winter Runs on Its Oldest Telescope.

Through next summer, the bigger building at the end of Observatory Place stays behind security fencing. The smaller one is still open, and its telescope is older than the neighborhood's name.

The Cincinnati Observatory's renovation started in July 2026. The Herget building, the 16-inch Clark telescope and the museum spaces are closed while the work goes on. The goal is to reopen Herget to the public in Summer 2027. The Mitchel building is still open, and so is the Mitchel telescope. The Observatory calls it "the oldest public telescope still available for viewing in this hemisphere." With the Clark offline, the telescope viewing on the hill this winter, from the date nights to the 6 a.m. planet viewings, happens on the 11-inch Merz and Mahler refractor that first saw light on April 14, 1845.

That telescope came before the neighborhood. It was moved here in 1873, and the settlement was renamed Mt. Lookout after the new observatory.

How the oldest telescope ended up in the newer building

The campus is laid out the way it is because of one swap more than a century ago. Samuel Hannaford designed the Greek Revival building that opened in 1873, before he went on to design Music Hall and City Hall. Board member John Kilgour donated the four acres and gave $10,000 toward construction. In 1904, the Observatory bought a larger telescope, the 16-inch Alvan Clark and Sons refractor from Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, and put up a second building. The Munich telescope moved into the new building, and the Clark went into operation in the old one.

That swap explains this winter. The renovation is happening in the larger, older building, so the work shuts down the 1904 Clark telescope. The 1845 telescope sits in the smaller building and stays in service. The Observatory's renovation page lists what continues in Mitchel: dome tours and viewing through the Mitchel telescope, Astronomy Evenings, Dr. Wes's classes, private events and rentals, and Family Astronomy Nights.

Some of the history behind that telescope is local. Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel paid for it by going door to door in 1842 and asking for $25 per person. That was about an average monthly salary at the time, and he raised nearly $7,500 in a month and a half. He found the 11-inch lens in Munich, already ground but never installed. The finished brass-and-mahogany telescope traveled through New Orleans and up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati. When it first saw light, it was the largest refractor in the Western Hemisphere.

What's happening behind the fence

The work in Herget is mostly in the basement, and it's mostly infrastructure. The Observatory posts construction updates every two weeks. Here's what they've covered so far:

• September 2: Eight weeks in, crews had put up security fencing, demolished interior walls, removed the HVAC and started excavating the basement floor. That excavation allows for new plumbing, moisture control, accessible floor grading and radon mitigation.
• September 15: The Observatory named Drawing Dept as project architect and Stanton Millworks as the maker of the custom cabinetry.
• October 13: Rain slowed the work. New sewer lines went in, electrical conduit was being added for an archive worktable, and the State approved revised architectural drawings before structural repairs could start.
• October 27: Crews poured concrete over a gravel base, vapor barrier and wire mesh in the west wing, the area next to the clock vault, the vestibule and the kitchenette. Plumbers fixed a collapsed main drain line under the front lawn, and framing was up next.

If you've walked past and seen equipment on the front lawn this fall, that drain line repair is the likely reason. The Observatory also says original walls and historic features won't be demolished.

The finished project is meant to add better archive and collection storage, a new viewing area for items that usually aren't on display, and ADA-compliant restrooms. The Observatory says it works with tens of thousands of people a year, and the renovation will add capacity in the larger building so it can host more programs.

Who's paying for it

Local 12 reported in July that the Observatory was raising $3 million for the renovation and program expansion, with a $2 million construction phase starting that month. Ohio Magazine described a campaign of more than $3 million that also pays for two new educational-program positions.

One small piece of the funding comes from the state. Hoodline reported that $100,000 of the basement and office work comes from Ohio's biennial capital budget, with community fundraising covering the rest. State Rep. Ashley Bryant Bailey's capital budget announcement lists that $100,000 for renovating the basement and office of the Observatory's 1873 building for preservation, storage and display. Neighbors can donate online or mail a check made out to the Cincinnati Observatory Center to 3489 Observatory Place, Cincinnati, OH 45208.

The Mitchel calendar, Thanksgiving week through December

These are the programs on the Observatory's calendar while Herget is closed, and any telescope viewing they include happens on the Mitchel telescope. Programs with viewing depend on the weather, and the Observatory is open by appointment, so book ahead through its events page.

A few of these lean on the telescope more than the others. The Astronomy Evening ends with a hands-on tour of the 1845 Mitchel telescope and viewing through it. Sights Before Sunrise only runs on clear mornings. It points the Mitchel telescope at one or two planets and the Moon, with coffee and donuts. The Observatory decides the afternoon before whether to cancel and posts that decision on social media and its email list. Deconstructing Our History is a roughly one-hour tour that includes the interactive sundial and the original 1843 cornerstone. It's recommended for ages 12 and up.

The classes are held in the Mitchel building. Hunting Orion covers what to point a telescope at in winter's best-known constellation. Last Footsteps, First Return compares Apollo 17, which left the Moon in December 1972, with the Artemis II crew that flew around it in April 2026. At Paint and Sip, Sarah Hellmann of Art for All People leads the painting, and the night ends with viewing through the historic telescope if the sky is clear. Ticket sales benefit both Art for All People and the Observatory.

The Observatory also hosts free, weather-dependent star gazes off-site. They're in the main parking lot by the beach at Stonelick State Park, with dates on December 5 and December 12.

December 5 and 6 on the hill

The first weekend of December has a lot going on in a small area. On Saturday, December 5, Late Night Date Night starts at 9 p.m. The ticket covers admission for two, an astronomy talk, mocktails, dessert and guided viewing through the historic telescopes if the weather allows. On Sunday, December 6, the Mt. Lookout Community Council holds Luminaria / Light Up Night on Mt. Lookout Square from 6 to 8 p.m. Plans include snacks, hot chocolate, entertainment, a possible visit from Santa and an old-fashioned trolley ride through the holiday lights.

This year is the 50th annual Luminaria. Each kit comes with 24 white bags, 24 votive candles, sand and a program book. Kits are $30 for one, $50 for two, $80 for three or $110 for four. Online ordering ran through November 18. The council says a limited number of kits may be sold after November 22 at Lookout Joe and Keepsake Photography on the Square, while supplies last. Luminaria is the council's biggest fundraiser. The money goes back into the neighborhood, paying for landscaping, the pollinator garden and flowerpots on the Square and helping sponsor the Fall Festival and the Ault Park fireworks.

The founder's telescope is in use on Saturday night, and the bags line the streets on Sunday. By late October, concrete was going into Herget's basement with framing up next, and the Observatory's goal is to reopen the larger building in Summer 2027.

At Johnson Real Estate Group, we'll keep following the Observatory Place project through reopening, along with the rest of what's changing around Mount Lookout. If a home near the Observatory or the Square comes up before then, get early access to listings and hear about it first.