Completed 1907 Reference no. 4700 | Country New Zealand Designated 25 September 1986 Opened 1907 | |
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Architectural style Edwardian Baroque architecture Similar Wellington Botanic Garden, Turnbull House, Space Place at Carter Ob, Hotel St George - Wellington, Sacred Heart Cathedral | ||
The Dominion Observatory is a historic observatory in the Botanic Gardens in Wellington, New Zealand. It was the second observatory in Wellington. It was built in 1907 and originally named the Hector Observatory after James Hector until 1925. It was built to replace the Colonial Observatory which was located in the Bolton Street Cemetery.
The observatory was primarily used to maintain New Zealand Mean Time for the Time Service based on astronomical observations.
It was designed by architect John Campbell in the Edwardian Baroque style.
The observatory was vacant in 1993, and in 2003 it was refurbished by the Department of Conservation to be used by private businesses.
References
Dominion Observatory, Wellington Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA