Following a devastating fire in 1989 a new observatory opened in September 1991 with a 10-inch (250 mm) apochromatic refractor telescope and German equatorial mount centered under a 6-meter dome.

The Michigan State Normal College received a gift from the citizens of Ypsilanti: a 4-inch (100 mm), $600 Alvan Clark refractor.

In the 1970s and 1980s, members of the EMU student astronomy club made numerous updates and restorations to keep the aging observatory running.

The new observatory opened in September 1991 with a 10-inch (250 mm) apochromatic refractor telescope and German equatorial mount centered under a 6-meter dome.

A secondary observatory with an automated 8-inch (200 mm) SCT for CCD imaging was added to the rooftop level, becoming operational in 2008.