As others have said this is incredibly sad, I guess the best case scenario at this point is for it to be a condo, at least the great building can be saved. But

As others have said this is incredibly sad, I guess the best case scenario at this point is for it to be a condo, at least the great building can be saved. But what really puzzles me is that how this great resource cannot be put to better use. Yes, the telescope may "no longer contribute directly to the research mission" but it still blows your $300 home telescope out of the water! I, for one, would pay at least $250 a night for a modest room if I am allowed to use that beast (with supervision, of course). I guess there would be tons of amateur astronomers who would feel the same. I understand U of C does not have the bandwidth to do this, but why doesn't a local startup/philanthropist/whatever step up?