Elgin National Watch Company
The Great Depression hit the Elgin National Watch Company badly. Following World War II, Swiss manufacturers began to dominate the pocket watch industry. The final blow came in 1950, when the United States Time Corporation introduced a cheap wristwatch that could be discarded and repurchased for less than the cost of repair. The Elgin National Watch Company ceased watch production in the late 1950s. The observatory was donated to the Elgin Area School District U46 in 1960, who added a planetarium in 1963. This was the first school district planetarium in the State of Illinois. Donald Tuttle (1920–2010) was the first planetarium director. He served from 1963 to 1985. The second director of the Planetarim/Observatory was Gary L. Kutina. He served as director from 1985 to 2009. The observatory was added to the National Register of Historic Places by Gary L. Kutina, Director of the Observatory, on August 16, 1994.