Friends of the
Zeiss Public
Statement Before
P.O. Box 1041 Planning Commission of
Pittsburgh, PA 15230-1041 U.S.A. the City of Pittsburgh
Telephone:
412-561-7876 By Glenn A. Walsh --
E-Mail: < fotz
@planetarium.cc > Science Center Master Plan:
Web Site: < http://www.friendsofthezeiss.org > Siderostat Observatory
Blog:
< http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com > Missing
2016 October 4
Good afternoon, I am
Glenn Walsh, 633 Royce Avenue, Mt. Lebanon, Project Director of Friends of the
Zeiss. From 1986 to 1991, I was Astronomical Observatory Coordinator of the
original Buhl Planetarium in Allegheny Center.
We have reviewed The
Carnegie Science Center MDP and find something missing: an observatory for a
historic, city-owned telescope that the Science Center promised the City, by
legal memorandum of understanding, would be included in the Science Center
expansion. However, the height, location, and configuration of the proposed
expansion makes installation of any telescope not feasible. Hence, we question
if installation of this telescope was seriously considered.
Called a Siderostat-Type
Telescope, it has a unique design, specifically for public use. It allows the
public to remain in a heated room, while the telescope stays out in the cooler
air. Built at Buhl Planetarium in 1941, it will mark its 75th anniversary
on November 19th. With a 10-inch lens, upon re-installation it would
be the largest Siderostat-Type Telescope in the world, as two larger such
telescopes have both been dismantled.
In 2002, when this historic
telescope was dismantled, the City allowed the Science Center to store the
telescope until a building addition is built. At a 2008 Planning Commission
Hearing, Science Center Co-Director Ron Baillie said he would provide the
Commission with a copy of the legal memorandum of understanding, between the
City and the Science Center, regarding reuse of the telescope.
According to a 2013
Pursuant Ketchum Fundraising Analysis, funding any Science Center expansion
would be difficult. So, it seems unlikely another expansion could occur in the
foreseeable future.
We ask that the Planning
Commission seek clarification of this issue before approving the MDP. Our
question is simple: With this city-owned telescope removed from Buhl
Planetarium, and, currently, no feasible way to install it at the Science
Center, how will the Science Center now keep its legal commitment to the City,
and when will city residents, again, be able to use this historic telescope?
gaw
PHOTO OF BUHL’S
SIDEROSTAT-TYPE TELESCOPE ON PAGE 2.