Friends of the Zeiss Public Statement Before

P.O. Box 1041 Planning Commission of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15230-1041 U.S.A. the City of Pittsburgh

Telephone: 412-561-7876 By Glenn A. Walsh --

Electronic Mail: < friendsofthezeiss@planetarium.cc > Science Center Master Plan:

Internet Web Site: < http://www.friendsofthezeiss.org > Siderostat Observatory

2008 September 23 Missing

Good afternoon. I am Glenn A. Walsh of 633 Royce Avenue, Mount Lebanon, Project Director of Friends of the Zeiss.

We have reviewed The Carnegie Science Center Master Plan, and we find an element missing from the proposed 80,000 square-foot west expansion of the building. While we would not expect a Master Plan to include indoor exhibits, a major exterior facility should be shown on the Master Plan.

In 2002, The Carnegie Science Center dismantled and removed several major and historic artifacts from the original Buhl Planetarium building. This includes Buhl’s original 10-inch Siderostat-type Refractor Telescope, which was in an Observatory facility on the roof of the building. I served as Buhl’s Astronomical Observatory Coordinator from 1986 to 1991.

With the removal of this telescope, which is property of the City of Pittsburgh, The Carnegie Science Center promised the City, in a Memorandum of Understanding, that the telescope would be installed in a new Observatory, perhaps in conjunction with the Science Center’s existing Observatory, as part of an expansion of the Science Center building.

The Science Center Master Plan does not indicate that a Siderostat Observatory would be installed on the roof of the planned west expansion of the building. Further, from a drawing in the Master Plan, it seems that the roof level of the west building expansion would actually be somewhat below the roof level of the existing building. Thus, installation of the Siderostat Observatory on the west building expansion may hinder telescope views of the eastern sky.

We ask that the City Planning Commission seek clarification of this issue before approving the Master Plan. Our question is simple: how does The Carnegie Science Center intend to keep its commitment to the City of Pittsburgh to reinstall and reuse the 10-inch Siderostat-type Refractor Telescope.

Thank you.

gaw