Friends of the Zeiss
Telephone: 412-561-7876
Electronic Mail: < friendsofthezeiss@planetarium.cc >
Internet Web Site: < http://www.friendsofthezeiss.org
>
2007 September 24
Mr. David M. Hillenbrand,
President
The Carnegie Museums of
Dear Mr. Hillenbrand:
On Friday morning, the Board
of Directors of the Port Authority of Allegheny County preliminarily approved
the purchase and demolition of the
In addition to the popular
SportsWorks exhibit, this warehouse includes the storage of several historic
pieces of equipment and artifacts from the original Buhl Planetarium and
Friends of the Zeiss is a grass-roots organization of citizens interested in the
preservation, restoration, and eventual reuse of these historic artifacts.
Under three Memoranda of
Understanding, which went into legal effect on 2002 October 25 between The
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh and the City of Pittsburgh (owner of all of
these artifacts), The Carnegie Science Center was authorized to temporarily
store the Zeiss II Projector, Siderostat Telescope, and Mercator’s Projection
World Map before displaying them in The Carnegie Science Center.
Originally, the Zeiss II
Projector was to be displayed by the end of 2005, with the display of the
Mercator’s Projection World Map soon after. The original plans were to install
the Siderostat Telescope for use in the proposed expansion of The Carnegie
Science Center.
Once the proposed expansion
project was cancelled, it was announced that display of the Zeiss II Projector
would now occur by the end of 2006. There was no mention of restoration and
display of the Siderostat Telescope and Mercator’s Projection World Map. These
three artifacts continue to be stored in the
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Mr. David M. Hillenbrand 2007
September 24 Page
2 of 2
Now that the
Thank you for your prompt
attention to this matter.
Sincerely yours,
Glenn A. Walsh
Project Director
gaw
Copy: Jim Ferlo, Senator, Pennsylvania General Assembly
Luke
Ravenstahl, Mayor, City of
Council
of the City of
Katherine
Molnar, Preservation Planner, City of
Historic
Review Commission of
Dan
Onorato, Chief Executive,
Council
of the
David
Donahoe, Executive Director, Allegheny Regional Asset District
Board
of Directors, Allegheny Regional Asset District
Stephen
G. Bland, Chief Executive Officer, Port Authority of
Board
of Directors, Port Authority of
Barbara
Simpson, President. Allegheny
Arthur P. Ziegler, Jr., President,
Louise Sturgess, Executive Director,
Steven Paul, Executive Director, Preservation
Dan Holland, Young Preservationists’ Association of
Friends of the Zeiss