Caltech, meanwhile, was eager to move ahead and Goldberger, says Keck, flew up to Berkeley and made his position perfectly clear: If UC didn't promptly sign an agreement with Caltech to build the telescope, Caltech was prepared to go it alone. At this point, UC dropped its plan for two telescopes, and after quietly returning the Hoffman gift, on Jan. 3, 1985, UC and Caltech jointly and with great fanfare announced a 50-50 partnership to build a new 10-meter telescope, to be named W. M. Keck Observatory. Under the terms of the agreement, Caltech would put up the money to build the telescope while UC would supply operating costs of $3.5 million a year for the next 25 years. Although title to the telescope would be held by Caltech, Caltech would lease the telescope to a new corporation (the California Assn. for Research in Astronomy) for $1 a year. Each school would have three representatives on CARA's board of directors and the chairmanship would alternate. And CARA would administer the new facility.
Ground-breaking for the telescope was celebrated in Hawaii on Sept. 12, 1985. The foundations are complete; the dome is to be delivered this spring. If the project remains on schedule, it will go into operation (called "first light") in 1991.