The Summer Solstice, the official beginning of the
Summer Season in the Northern Hemisphere, occurred
this morning (June 21) at 2:46 a.m. Eastern Daylight
Saving Time [EDST]. Happy Summer Solstice Day:
< http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/FAQ/#summer >
This year, Friends of the Zeiss has worked to have the
original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular
Science building designated as a City-Designated
Historic Structure. The LAST AND MOST IMPORTANT public
hearing for this effort will occur Wednesday, July 13,
2005 at 1:30 p.m. EDST before Pittsburgh City Council,
in the City Council Chamber on the fifth floor of the
City-County Building, at the corner of Grant
Street and Forbes Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh..
Any citizen may testify at this public hearing,
although the City does request testifiers to
pre-register by telephoning the City Clerk's
Office at 412-255-2138. Verbal testimony, at this
public hearing, will be strictly limited to three
minutes per person; however, additional
written testimony, of any length, can also be
submitted.
If you cannot attend this public hearing, you can
e-mail, to me, a short letter of support for the
historic designation of Buhl Planetarium. I will
submit these letters along with my written
testimony at the public hearing. For those people who
have already submitted support letters (Katherine
Roolf, George E. Reder, II, Marguerite Atria, Virginia
Peden, and Jordan Marche), be assured that
your letter will be submitted at the July 13 public
hearing.
The effort to have Buhl Planetarium designated as a
historic structure began when, on behalf of Friends of
the Zeiss, Jon Wilson Smith submitted the official
nomination application [application completed
by Glenn A. Walsh] to the Historic Review Commission
of Pittsburgh in January. Since that time, there have
been three public hearings before the Historic Review
Commission and one before the City Planning
Commission.
Consequently, both the Historic Review Commission and
the City Planning Commission have voted, unanimously,
recommending that Pittsburgh City Council approve the
original Buhl Planetarium building as a historic
landmark. After the last public hearing before City
Council [on July 13], City Council will then discuss
the proposal at two future meetings, leading to a
final vote on the issue, probably a couple weeks after
the July 13 public hearing.
As a City-Designated Historic Structure, the City of
Pittsburgh will officially recognize the historic
importance of the Buhl Planetarium building. Once
designated as historic, the exterior of the Buhl
Planetarium building cannot be altered without
approval of the Historic Review Commission.
Regrettably, this legal protection does not extend to
the historic interior, equipment, or artifacts of Buhl
Planetarium. At the present time, no law exists to
protect historic interiors, equipment, or artifacts.
Once the historic designation takes effect, the Buhl
Planetarium exterior will be protected, as it exists
at the time of designation. The law does not require
that the building facade be restored as built in 1939.
This is a political matter, as is anything that goes
before an elected assembly. This is the reason
historic designation, for Buhl Planetarium, was not
attempted any sooner [although proposals for such
designation date back to Buhl's 50th anniversary in
1989]. Had Friends of the Zeiss attempted historic
designation before the Children's Museum altered the
building, the Children's Museum could have claimed
that Friends of the Zeiss was being "obstructionist,"
trying to stop the Children's Museum from using the
building as they see fit. Consequently, it is likely
City Council would not have approved historic
designation for Buhl Planetarium, at that time.
However, with the Children's Museum's construction
project completed, this is now the best time to seek
historic landmark status for Buhl Planetarium. And,
during the first public hearing before the Historic
Review Commission, on February 2 [Groundhog's
Day--quite appropriate as the original celebration,
Candlemas, was derived from Astronomy!], the
Children's Museum announced their support of the
historic designation of Buhl Planetarium [which makes
sense, since they have been operating in a
City-Designated Historic Structure, the Old Allegheny
Post Office, since 1983].
So, with the unanimous recommendations of the Historic
Review Commission and the City Planning Commission,
and the support of the Children's Museum, I am
cautiously optimistic that City Council will
support the historic designation of Buhl Planetarium.
However, it would be best to have a good showing of
public support, both verbal testifiers and letters of
support, to show that the people really want this
historic designation.
For more information on the effort to designate Buhl
Planetarium as a historic structure, including viewing
the historic nomination application in its entirety,
click on the following link:
<
http://buhlplanetarium4.tripod.com/friendsofthezeiss/HRCnom/BuhlHRCNom.htm
>
And, if you have any other questions, do not hesitate
to respond to this e-mail message, or telephone me at
412-561-7876.
Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss
< http://www.friendsofthezeiss.org >
gaw
Glenn A. Walsh
Electronic Mail - < [log in to unmask] >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
< http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
< http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer & Optician John A. Brashear:
< http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
< http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
< http://www.incline.cc >
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