HYANNIS – The center courtyard at Barnstable High School was for many years a forgotten space, a weed-strewn abandoned yard, ignored and blighted.
But over the past 11 years, it has been transformed into the Cobb Astro Park, which features gardens, murals, mosaics, marble sculptures, a labyrinth and an observatory.
“What we’ve done is over the last 11 years, we’ve had a community barn-raising to transform this space into a multi-functional educational facility that has all kinds of options, not just for the high school but for the community and the Cape at large,” Barnstable High School astronomy teacher Mike Gyra said.
Gyra was there at the beginning and has been the driving force for the project through the years.
He said he first had the idea when he was looking at the courtyard with two others, former Barnstable High School science teacher Peter Auger and builder Brian Dacey.
“We walked out and we looked at that space and we thought, there’s gotta be something more we can do with this space. And since we started an astronomy program, we thought, what a great place to have an observatory. From that seed thought, the whole thing was born,” he said.
Listen below to hear from a group that worked on the Astro Park: Barnstable High School astronomy teacher Mike Gyra, retired Barnstable High School English teacher Ed O’Toole, project manager Paul Pacella, muralist Cris Reverdy and John Tanionos, a former officer with the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association.
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