THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
An urban dark sky park – an area of low light where people can set up telescopes and stargaze – has been proposed for Fort Smith.
If a proposal by the Thebacha and Wood Buffalo Astronomical Society is successful, stargazers will be able to set up their telescopes at an urban dark sky park in Fort Smith. In August of last year, society member Bruce Buckley set up his telescope for a stargazing event at Pine Lake, about 60 km south of Fort Smith in Wood Buffalo National Park. - photo courtesy of Larry Nixon/Thebacha and Wood Buffalo Astronomical Society
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The Thebacha and Wood Buffalo Astronomical Society submitted the idea to town council last month.
"Essentially, what we want to do is see if the town could acquire a piece of land along Highway 5 in order for us to create a number of platforms and perhaps a heightened observation platform from which to observe night-sky phenomena," said Tim Gauthier, the public outreach co-ordinator with the astronomical society.
The exact location is old bison corrals used in the 1950s and 1960s. The corrals are a couple of hundred metres off the highway, just 1.5 km west of the first main turnoff into Fort Smith.
The area is surrounded by trees, Gauthier said. "So we've got a really good star field in a very convenient place."
The astronomical society has asked the Town of Fort Smith to seek to acquire the land from the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) and designate it a municipal park.
Mayor Brad Brake said the site is currently Commissioner's land.
"We'd have to make an application to purchase the land from MACA," he said. "It would probably be a purchase for $1 or something like that."
Brake said the proposal for an urban dark sky park has already been accepted by council, which has decided to ask for the land.
"So it's a project that's moving forward," he noted.
Brake said he thinks it is a really good proposal. "As far as I'm concerned, it's something that I want to see happen."
The mayor particularly likes the suggestion that the urban dark sky park could also function as an historical interpretive site for the community.
Gauthier noted the society has been told by the town that it also has property near Bell Rock, further out on Highway 5, which could be an alternative if the area of the bison corrals is not available.
The idea for an urban dark sky park is an offshoot of a separate ongoing initiative to create a dark sky preserve in Wood Buffalo National Park.
"What we found was that we've got some really great spots for viewing in the park, but, as the winter goes on and the weather gets really cold, people are hesitant to drive even the 24 km to our proposed dark sky observation point at Salt River," Gauthier explained, noting the darkest parts of winter offer truly spectacular viewing opportunities. "So we thought a location close to town would make it much easier for Fort Smithers and visitors to the community who are interested in viewing the night sky to avail themselves of that opportunity."
Gauthier said, regardless of what happens with the idea of an urban dark sky park, the society will continue to offer astronomical presentations and viewing opportunities at other locations.
"But it would certainly be more convenient and handy for us as residents to have a nice spot close to town where municipal lighting is a minimal factor," he said.
There is some glow in the sky from the main section of Fort Smith to the northeast, but not enough to interfere with stargazing.
