Friends of the Zeiss
Telephone: 412-561-7876
Electronic Mail: < friendsofthezeiss@planetarium.cc >
Internet Web Site: < http://www.planetarium.cc >
2008 April 10
Dr. David M. Hillenbrand,
President
The Carnegie Museums of
Dear Dr. Hillenbrand:
On April 8, I attended the
Pre-Bid Conference for Contract NSC-007, the contract that includes erection of
aerial structure for expansion of the Port Authority of Allegheny County’s
Light Rail Transit system on the North Side and the demolition of the Miller
Printing Warehouse Building of The Carnegie Science Center. Under the
Pennsylvania Sunshine Act, this Pre-Bid Conference is open to the general
public.
The Pre-Bid Conference
included two site visits: on April 8, a walk along the proposed transit
alignment; and early morning (7:30 a.m., before
However, when I attempted to
attend the April 9 site visit, Carnegie Science Center Director of Exhibits, Facilities & Operations Tom Flaherty refused me
admission to the building; this occurred in the “SportsWorks” parking lot. In
fact, he said that if I did not leave voluntarily he would have security
physically remove me from the property.
Despite
my disagreement with some policies of The Carnegie Science Center, it has never
been my intention to cause any trouble. Although I did indicate my displeasure
with Mr. Flaherty’s decision, I left the property voluntarily.
For
nearly thirty years, I have been attending Board of Directors and other public
meetings of the Port Authority of Allegheny County. I am an avid supporter of
public transportation and of the “North Shore Connector” project. Hence, it was
not unusual for me to attend this Pre-Bid Conference, including the site
visits.
I
continue to be quite concerned with the storage, current status, and future
storage arrangements for the historic artifacts currently being stored in the
Miller Warehouse, from
I
want to thank you for your letter of October 8, in response to my letter of
September 24. In the letter you state, “Before the Miller Building is razed, we
will move these items, along with many other assets residing in the
I
am quite concerned with the terminology, ultimate
disposition. The three Memoranda of Understanding between The Carnegie
Science Center and the City of
are
to be displayed/used in The Carnegie Science Center. If they are not to be
displayed/used in The Carnegie Science Center, then Friends of the Zeiss
strongly believes that they should be returned to the
Dr. David M. Hillenbrand 2008 April 10 Page 2 of 2
original
Buhl Planetarium building. Due to custom design of the building, the original
Buhl Planetarium is the only place where the Zeiss II Planetarium Projector and
the 10-inch Siderostat-type Refractor Telescope could be fully utilized to teach science
to children; and, it is advantageous that the building is currently being used
as a Children’s Museum.
Although
your October 8 response talked about the three historic artifacts, covered by
the Memoranda of Understanding, you did not specifically mention the status and
future storage arrangements of smaller Buhl Planetarium artifacts specified on
my September 24 attachment (copy attached). These smaller artifacts, moved to
either the Miller Building or The Carnegie Science Center between 1991 and
1994, are also City property, due to the fact that they were in
the Buhl Planetarium building on the day of dedication, 1939 October 24, when
the Buhl Foundation gifted everything to the City of Pittsburgh. I continue to
seek information regarding these artifacts, as well.
I
would like to see all of these artifacts as they are currently stored in the
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
Joanna Haas, Director, The
Ron Baillie, Director of Education, The
Tom Flaherty, Director, Exhibits, Facilities &
Operations, The
Friends of the Zeiss