This telescope was originally located at Northwestern University at the Lindheimer Astronomical Research Center. Lindheimer was created in 1967 with Boller and Chivens 16" and 40" telescopes, the latter "financed primarily by a gift from the A. Montgomery Ward Foundation" ( Historical information on Lindheimer)
Northwestern destroyed the observatory in 1995. Shortly before the destruction, they offered the university's sixteen inch and forty inch reflectors to anyone who would remove them from the building. Lowell Observatory dispatched a crew to Northwestern and rescued the telescopes.
The 16 inch telescope was installed on Mars Hill (the historic center of Lowell Observatory) and is used for visitor nights and outreach.
The 40 inch telescope remained in storage at Lowell for ten years.
I had seen the original Northwestern ad for "free telescopes" on the internet back in 1995, but was not in a position to do anything. During conversations with Robert Millis, director of Lowell, in 2005, I learned that the 40 inch was still in storage, and that Millis had a handshake agreement that Perth Observatory would install and operate the telescope if Lowell could refurbish it, computerise it, and deliver it to Perth.
I, through the Robert Martin Ayers Sciences Fund decided to help the refurbishment. The telescope was refurbished (and the control system entirely rebuilt) at Lowell during 2006-2007 and the telescope is now (August 2008) ready to be shipped to its new site in Perth Australia.
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, or at astroayers@gmail.com