Algonquin Radio Observatory was inaugurated in 1959 and became Canada's national radio observatory in 1962. The observatory house complex, radiometer building, utility buildings, University of Toronto Laboratory, dish and parabolic microwave feed horn instruments were designed in 1959 and construction was completed in phases over the next several years. The first instrument on the site was a new solar telescope, similar to Covington's original instrument, but slightly enlarged to 6 ft (1.8 m) which allowed it to better observe the entire solar disk. This instrument operated in parallel to the original at Goth Hill until 1962, when it took over these duties completely. A second telescope, identical to the one at ARO, was later installed at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) in Penticton, British Columbia as a backup.