From the NOAO website:
Opened in March 1960, the National Science Foundation's 0.9-meter telescope was the first major telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory.
In 1966 a second 0.9m telescope was opened on Kitt Peak, just east of the original. Both operated until 1990, when the original 0.9m site was cleared for use by the WIYN 3.5m telescope (on the left). The first 0.9m telescope was then moved into the No. 2 dome (right). The second 0.9m was moved to a northern location on Kitt Peak, and operations were assumed by the SARA consortium.
Constructed in the early 1960s and seeing first light on September 15, 1964, the 2.1-meter (84-inch) telescope was one of the earliest Kitt Peak telescopes.
If NOAO at Kitt Peak had expanded its telescope complement by adding larger instruments as technology made them more affordable, that would have been one thing.
But NOAO has neglected its smaller telescopes. The National Observatory now controls zero one-meter class telescopes, down from two in 1970. And the 2.1 meter is typically scheduled in 5-10 night blocks, not an arrangement that enables a variety of "smaller" proposals.
Today, the optical telescopes at Kitt that are controlled by the National Observatory are the Mayall 4-meter, the WIYN 3.5 meter (40% -- the rest is owned by Wisconsin, Indiana and Yale), and the 2.1 meter. And recently the Mayall has been partly taken over by Clemson and the U of Maryland. And I have heard rumors that the 2.1 meter may be "up for sale".
This occurred due to budget-squeeze as NOAO attempted to use its taxpayer funding to construct giant telescopes like Gemini. There is a natural desire to "keep up with the big boys", but sometimes it conflicts with one's charter.
The demise of the two 0.9 meter telescopes damaged NOAO's role in being the "National Observatory" and providing telescope support to the colleges and researchers of the United States that could not afford to create and maintain a telescope facility of their own. Astronomy news-groups in the 1990s often bemoaned the end of the availability of the Kitt 0.9 meter telescopes.
That "is where I came in". I noticed the remarks, attended the Lowell Conference on Small Telescopes in 1996 (see my article on smaller telescopes), and began to wonder what a correct relacement for the smaller telescopes was, considering that the technology of the 1990s enabled more solutions than were possible in the 60s.
I am interested in all aspects of "making telescope time available to the smaller players, both researchers and members of the educatonal system" and would be delighted to discuss them with you.
I can be reached via email as "bob" at this dot-org domain.