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Date: |
Sat, |
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From: |
"Glenn A. Walsh" < gawalsh@planetarium.cc > |
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Subject: |
Nov. 6--Expanded Children's Museum Opens |
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CC: |
"Glenn A. Walsh" < gawalsh@planetarium.cc > |
The expanded Children's
including use of The Buhl Planetarium and
Institute of
November 6. The following is a report of the
first day
of museum operation, along with a critique of
the
changes made to the
You can look at newspaper articles regarding
the
opening of the Museum at:
< https://buhlplanetarium4.tripod.com/childctr.html
>
The primary item that has either helped or hindered
historic preservation has been, respectively,
either
the lack of money or the ability to acquire
government
and/or foundation and corporate funds for a
project.
In the case of both The Buhl Planetarium and
Institute
of Popular Science, and the Andrew Carnegie
Free
Library and Music Hall in
[where I served as a Life Trustee from
1995-2000],
much of the historic facility, interior,
equipment,
and furnishings were retained because of the
LACK of
money for so-called "modernization."
Beginning in the
1960s, with the efforts of the Pittsburgh
History and
Landmarks Foundation, there was an effort to
preserve
some of the original facilities. However, even
their
efforts have fallen short, once money becomes
available for the "modernization" of
a building.
Such is the case with Buhl Planetarium. It is
amazing
how many changes can be made, when they have
$28
million to play around with! And, considering
that the
museum, many of these changes were
unnecessary--change
just for the sake of change, so certain
"artists" and
"architects" can show-off their supposed
"creativity" and place
their own lasting imprint on the landmark !!!
The Children's
with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, in which the
first
one-third of the ceremony had a non-working
public
address system. WTAE-TV 4 morning news anchor
Wendy
The ribbon-cutting [ribbon held-up by children
in
attendance, just in front of the make-shift
stage],
occurred on Saturday Morning,
*precisely*
The following are comments about the first day
of the
newly-expanded museum:
1) During the ceremony, it was announced that
the
State had provided the Children's Museum with
ANOTHER
$1 million; so the total State contribution to
this
project has now increased to $9 million. As
indicated
in a Wednesday article in the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette:
< http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04315/409646.stm
>
part of this money will be used to finish
construction
of a new Board Room and a couple of classrooms.
On November 6, Children's Museum Executive
Director
Jane Werner told me that current plans are to
convert
the original Buhl Planetarium Astronomical
Observatory
into this new Board Room! On behalf of Friends
of the
Zeiss, I have just sent a letter to Children's
Museum
Board President Anne V. Lewis asking that the
Board
reconsider this conversion:
< https://buhlplanetarium4.tripod.com/friendsofthezeiss/correspondence/L-LewisAVBuhlObserv.htm
>
Yes, I realize that my pleas may well be
ignored, as
they have ignored most of my pleas in the past.
However, I felt it was important to at least
try.
Also, during the remarks leading to the
ribbon-cutting, Children's Museum Executive
Director
Jane Werner mentioned that the Children's
Museum is
leasing the Buhl Planetarium building from the
City
for one-dollar per year, a price she said she
is happy
to pay [when this arrangement was first
proposed,
during a news conference the Mayor had to loan
Jane
the dollar!].
In the Mayor's remarks, Tom Murphy said that
the City
got a good deal in leasing the Buhl Planetarium
building to the Children's Museum for
one-dollar per
year, because the Buhl Planetarium building was
"the
biggest white elephant in the city" [yes,
that is what
he actually said!].
2) The Children's Museum's new "main"
elevator [i.e.
the elevator in the new three-floor
"Nightlight
Building," located between the Old
Allegheny Post
Office and Buhl Planetarium buildings] did not
even
make it to
malfunction.
At
bell is so loud, that the first priority for
the staff
was to try to find a way to shut-off the bell!
After the bell was shut-off, then they tried to
determine whether there were people trapped in
a
stalled elevator. The answer was yes--there
were about
a dozen people [more than a half-dozen young
children]
trapped in the elevator at the second floor
level.
However, apparently, there was no telephone or
intercom service [or such service also
malfunctioned]
for communication between the staff and the
trapped
visitors. They had to communicate through the
second
floor elevator door.
Then the staff tried to find a way to get the
elevator
door open, to release the trapped visitors. It
was not
until
repairman, that the visitors were released.
After the
visitors were released, the staff did offer
free
family memberships, to the Children's Museum,
to the
families which had been trapped in the
elevator.
Once the repairman had reached the defective
elevator,
he immediately used his special elevator key to
open
the elevator door. The question is why was
there not
such an emergency key on-site, so the staff
could have
opened the elevator door [or, was there a key
on-site,
and the staff was not aware of it, or not
trained how
to use it?]? When Buhl Planetarium was in
operation,
there was an emergency key to Buhl's elevator
mounted
just outside the Mezzanine-level elevator door.
Although paramedics did also arrive, there had
been no
injuries and nothing for the paramedics to do.
3) Planetarium -- As I had seen about a year
earlier,
all of the original Theater of the Stars
infrastructure has been removed, with the
exception of
the 65-foot diameter inner planetarium dome and
the
historic Westinghouse Worm-Gear Elevator [Buhl
was the
world's first planetarium to be placed on an
elevator], which is being stored below the
Planetarium
in the Zeiss Pit.
With retention of the inner dome and the
Westinghouse
Worm-Gear Elevator, a return of the Zeiss II
Planetarium Projector sometime in the future
would not
be a huge expense.
The Theater of the Stars is now the home of the
"Garage/Workshop" where children can
build with wood
and other recycled materials in the Workshop
and learn
more about the mechanics of automobiles in the
Garage.
There is now a window, in the rear of the
Planetarium
[where the world's first permanent theatrical
stage in
a planetarium once existed], which looks out
into the
staff parking lot [I guess for greater emphasis
of the
automobile theme!]!
There are some wires, to a few exhibits,
connected
directly to the Planetarium dome. It is
difficult to
tell for sure, but damage [if any] to the dome
seems
minor and probably easily repairable.
4) Great Hall of Buhl Planetarium -- The Great
Hall
[now called the "Grand Hall"] is
completely dedicated
to the cafe/restaurant. The east section of the
Great
Hall is, except for the Foucault Pendulum and
Pendulum
Pit, completely filled with tables and chairs
for
eating.
These tables and chairs are also extended out
into a
patio, just below the area of the east wall
which was
removed for a giant window, so patrons can look
at the
Carnegie Library and clock tower next door. The
northeast edge of the patio almost touches the
James Anderson Memorial [memorial built by
Andrew
Carnegie for his boyhood mentor, who inspired
him to
give libraries worldwide], which was relocated
in Buhl
Planetarium's east lawn more than a decade ago.
The removal of the east wall also resulted in
the
removal of an astronomical inscription from the
Bible,
which had been inscribed on the exterior of
this wall:
<
http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/Buhl-InscriptionE.JPG
>
Supposedly, this inscription is in storage
someplace.
The inscription on the exterior of the west
wall:
<
http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/Buhl-InscriptionW.JPG
>
still exists, however due to the way the new
building
was constructed, it really cannot be seen very
easily.
The western section of the Great Hall is a
large
lounge, with couches and lounge chairs as well
as a
few small tables. Special programs/demos are
shown in
this area. Smaller demos are also being given
at the
extreme east end of the Great Hall.
Huge internally-lighted "planetary
globes" hang from
the ceiling of the Great Hall.
The ramp to the Planetarium is gone, as are the
golden
letters spelling-out "PLANETARIUM"
that had been
located just below the clock. And, the clock
was not
operating on the first day.
The entire area between Pat and Lorene's office
and
the bulletin Board outside of Paul's office is
now
completely filled with a kitchen and restaurant
sales
bar. A gift shop is now located just a little
east of
the west staircase leading to the Mezzanine.
Apparently, the public address speakers were
not
working in the Great Hall on the first day.
This is the actual text of the signs above the
entrance to the two staircases, from the Great
Hall to
the Mezzanine:
"Theater, Group Orientation,
Bathrooms"
YES, "Bathrooms"! I checked and found
no bathtub in
the new Men's Room on the Mezzanine [although I
would
guess that "Mr. Miller's Bathroom"
with a shower still
exists in the Boiler Room, but is not
accessible to
the public].
Although they may think that this is better
communication to children, is it not the
purpose of a
museum to teach new things to children,
including the
difference between a bathroom and a rest room?
5) Foucault Pendulum -- The Foucault Pendulum
has been
returned to the Pendulum Pit. And, it is
working
properly [it was not working properly during
the
there are no pegs [my understanding is that
pegs are
coming, eventually].
Despite the lack of pegs, I did see quite a few
children looking at the Pendulum swinging [and,
as
usual, I had to tell one child not to grab the
Pendulum wire!], wondering what it is--as there
is no
written explanation displayed. I also saw
adults
watching the Pendulum, perhaps remembering
their visit
to Buhl Planetarium in their youth.
You could tell that Mr. Mike has not polished
the
Pendulum Pit's brass railing in a while!
6) Mezzanine -- Actually, it was fairly empty,
except
for some tables where some youth-oriented
organizations offered small activities and
handouts.
This area, apparently, will be used as an
orientation
area for school groups [although I saw very few
chairs
in this area].
Lab 1 [Discovery Lab] is now the office of an
organization called Youth Alive! Lab 2 is the
office
of the Saturday Light Brigade, a children's
radio
program broadcast each Saturday,
Bowdish Gallery. The Workshop is now also an
office,
but I not sure for which group.
The original Women's Room is now a
staff/volunteer
lounge; the original Men's Room is locked. New
restrooms and water fountains are located where
there
had been the Mezzanine entrance to the Fan
Room.
7) Octagon Gallery -- This area is closed to
the
public. From looking in the door, it appears
unfinished. The chair lift for the disabled has
been
removed. My understanding is that this area
will be
their Workshop.
8) Bowdish Gallery [previously home to the
Miniature
Railroad and Village] -- Bowdish Gallery is now
"The
Theater." Originally, "The
Theater" was supposed to be
half of the original Little Science Theater.
Instead,
the entire LST is now "The Attic"
exhibit.
The Theater includes the Saturday Light Brigade
radio
program [one of their few new exhibits I
actually
support, as I was in charge of a similar
educational radio station program in the
1970s--see
this web page for more info:
< http://johnbrashear.tripod.com/wlcr.html
>].
In front of the radio studio window are a
couple dozen
portable [stackable] chairs for a studio
audience. The
radio studio is located, where the hallway to
the
elevator once was. Now, there is a shorter
hallway to
the elevator.
At the other end of Bowdish Gallery and in the
former
Club Room/Wherrett Memorial Classroom is the
new
stage. They could have kept, and used, the
world's
first permanent stage in a planetarium, in
Buhl's
Theater of the Stars. Instead, they gutted it
and
built a new small stage in Bowdish Gallery!
The Theater has 40 permanent seats [yes, only
40!]
directed toward the stage; I had thought that
the
theater would have 100-125 seats. Needless to
say,
there is a lot of empty space in the Bowdish
Gallery.
The only good thing about this theater is that
the 40
seats are all reupholstered original seats from
the
Little Science Theater [Buhl's second Lecture Hall]. This is the ONE
suggestion of
mine [to use original LST seats, rather than
buying
new ones] that Jane Werner actually used.
Still, they
had 250 LST seats available, and they only used
40!
9) Little Science Theater -- The LST is now
"The
Attic" exhibit, including a small balcony
area
"Gravity Room" that has a floor tilted
25 degrees to
the actual floor for "sensory
illusion" [this balcony
area is not accessible to the disabled, for
obvious
reasons].
It seems that the projection booth still
exists,
however the original staircase to the
projection booth
is gone, as are the windows for projecting
images from
the booth.
There is no indication of what happened to the
painting of Halley's Comet, which had been hanging in the Little Science Theater.
10) East Gallery -- This is being used as their
traveling exhibits gallery--current exhibit:
"En Mi
Familia/In My Family."
The Program Staff offices balcony is gone. The
City of
elsewhere. Again, the rear of this gallery has
a
window looking out onto the staff parking lot!
11) Planetarium Hallways -- The front and west
hallways have been completely altered with
small
exhibits. The original doors to the Theater of
the
Stars are all gone.
The east hallway is pretty-much the same. The
lighted
picture boxes, imbedded into the wall along the
east
hallway [and the two in the eastern section of
the
front hallway] still exist, but are not in use.
The
astronomical transparencies are gone.
The original recording studio [which, at one
time, was
used as Holly Smeltzer's office] is now a
women's
restroom.
The former Volunteer Office and Lounge have
been
replaced by a small PPG gallery with artwork:
"Smelling Machine" by Hyla Willis.
12) Second Floor -- Not much to talk about.
Public
access is only available through the second
floor of
the new "
stairwell [from the Great Hall to the second
floor
offices and to the Observatory] has been
removed; the
east stairwell still exists, but is only
accessible by
the staff.
Most of the Buhl Planetarium second floor was
behind a
locked door, indicating that this area houses
classrooms sponsored by PNC Bank ["PNC
Growing-Up
Great" classrooms]. So, I have no idea of
the status
of the beautiful wood-paneled Library/Board Room, former offices and
rest
rooms, safe, and wood and glass bookcase built
into
the wall of the staff offices.
13) Third Floor -- Very similar to the second
floor.
Only a hallway is accessible from the third
floor of
the new "
children can see up-close, and touch, a
classical
frieze at the roofline of the Buhl Planetarium
building. Originally, we had been told, at a
meeting
with the Children's Museum staff in 2000, that
children would also be able to touch the
letters to
the west exterior wall's astronomical
inscription;
this did not come to pass.
A locked door stops entry into the Telescope
Room [the 10-inch Siderostat-type Refractor Telescope, like the Zeiss II Planetarium Projector and the large Mercator's Projection Map of the World, remains dismantled and in storage at The Carnegie Science Center warehouse]. The
glass windows between the Telescope Room and
the
Observing Room are gone, so there is no way to
know
what is on the other side of that locked door.
The north wall of this hallway, where the
Observatory
was located, now has electrical and/or HVAC
control
panels. HVAC equipment now occupies the outdoor
east
and west wings of the Observatory. As I
mentioned
earlier, I was told that plans are to convert
the
Observatory into a Board Room.
14) I would estimate the crowd, on opening day,
would
be similar to an average Saturday at Buhl
during
Railroad Season.
15) According to a news report on KQV-AM 1410,
regarding the Children's Museum opening,
"The Rise of
Steel Technology" mural, commissioned by
U.S. Steel
and painted by Nat Youngblood, has been
"donated"
[this is what the Children's Museum told KQV]
to the
"
City property, the Children's Museum could not
donate
it to anyone.
This mural was one of four artifacts included
in the
2002 April City RFP, regarding lease of the
artifacts.
Friends of the Zeiss and The
are the ONLY two organizations which put in
bids for
these items [the
for the mural].
And, I know that City Council has not approved
any
bill donating this mural to anyone. My educated
guess
is that the City has leased or loaned the mural
to the
Homestead museum. However, I will have to
investigate
this further.
16) The Children's Museum Business Plan, for
operation
of the expanded museum, called for an adult
admission
price of $7 and $6 for children and senior
citizens.
On opening day, the admission prices were $8
for
adults and $7 for children and senior citizens.
Additionally, for those who do not use public
transit,
parking rates are $5 for non-members and $3 for
members.
17) The Mister Rogers Neighborhood exhibit is
on the
first floor of the new "
the first floor of the
originally planned.
18) According to the opening day program, the
Children's Museum has a 36-member Board of
Directors.
The full-time staff includes the Executive
Director,
Project Manager, and six department Directors
[Visitor
Services, Exhibits, Finance, Marketing,
Development,
Education], as well as 31 other employees. The
program
did not mention the part-time staff.
19) And last, but not least, the Children's
Museum has
revamped their web site. At the beginning of
their new
web site is [are you sitting-down for this
one?] a
dancing chicken !!!
< http://www.pittsburghkids.org
>
No, the Children's Museum does not have a
chick-hatching exhibit. Apparently, it is just
a
webmaster being "creative."
=====
gaw
Glenn A. Walsh
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium,
* 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,
