OSU Terminates Lease on #Big Ear# Property

OHIO STATE TERMINATES LEASE ON "BIG EAR" PROPERTY

COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University, Green Highlands Ltd. 
and New Green Highlands Development Ltd. have agreed to terminate 
the existing lease on land in Delaware County now occupied by the 
university's "Big Ear" radio telescope.

The agreement marks the end of nearly two years of 
negotiations regarding the site and is part of a redirection of 
radio astronomy efforts at the university.

Earlier this year, Ohio State renewed its existing 10-year 
lease with the land owners, Green Highlands Ltd.  The new lease 
termination agreement accompanies the sale of the land to the New 
Green Highlands Development Ltd. which plans to build a golf 
course and adjacent residential housing on the property.

The new agreement provides that the university leave the 
property by Dec. 31, 1997.  In return, Ohio State would receive 
$200,000 in exchange for releasing its lease renewal option.  
During the remaining two years, the university would pay an 
annual fee of only $1 for use of the land.

A provision of the new agreement requires that Ohio State 
provide only routine maintenance on the property.  The existing 
lease had required the university repaint the radio telescope at 
an estimated cost of more than $280,000.  The new agreement 
eliminates that requirement.

After the university vacates the land in 1997, the current 
radio telescope will be dismantled.  The radio astronomy team at 
Ohio State is developing a proposal for a next-generation 
instrument to replace Big Ear.  They have been urged by the 
university to seek funding for any new instrument through 
proposals for peer-reviewed grants.

Built in the 1950s, the telescope covers an area roughly 
equivalent to three football fields and has been the site of 
several all-sky astronomical surveys, as well as the world's 
longest running search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

                            #

Contact:  Robert Haverkamp (614) 292-7970.
Written by Earle Holland.


[Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
               
Thu, 1 Feb 1996 08:17:15 -0500]
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