Arecibo Radio Telescope to Be Decomissioned Due to Damage

> Arecibo has been around my whole life, and was such a versatile and well-loved instrument. I am not a radio astronomer but many of my friends are and have used Arecibo in the past. Losing this facility is just awful.

Its sad to see the facility decay, for sentimental and historical reasons; but is there any actual use for it? "Any instrument can do someone some good" surely, but can this one be maintained for what those users can pay?

I've already heard "China sabotaged it so now they're the only ones who can speak to the aliens" ... Is there anything a single dish does better than say the VLA [1] many dishes configuration? Long wavelengths would be better done with a herringbone so far as i know.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_G._Jansky_Very_Large_Arra...