2002 July 1

Mr. Dale A. Perrett, Director

Department of General Services

City of Pittsburgh

526 City County Building

414 Grant Street

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219-2458

Re: Pennsylvania Right to Know Law Request

Dear Mr. Perrett:

I am in receipt of your June 24 letter, indicating that Friends of the Zeiss "has not been awarded any portion of the proposal to lease artifacts from the Buhl Planetarium." I must tell you that I was surprised with the vagueness of the letter.

Your letter gave no reasons why our 43-page proposal received the award of none of the four Buhl Planetarium artifacts detailed by your RFP of April of 2002. You did not mention what organization(s) did receive an award--or even if any bids had been awarded with lease contracts. This is particularly puzzling, considering that your letter acknowledged our substantial efforts to preserve the valuable history of the City of Pittsburgh.

So, first I will ask you for an explanation why our Official Response to the RFP, of 2002 April, regarding the lease of four Buhl Planetarium artifacts, did not result in the awarding of a lease of any of the artifacts.

Under the terms of the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law [Act of June 21, 1957, P.L. 390, No. 212, 60 P.S. 66.1 et seq., as amended]. I also, respectfully, request the following information:

1) A copy of the RFP Response(s) of the organization(s) which received bid award(s) to preserve the four artifacts in question: Zeiss II Planetarium Projector, 10-inch Siderostat-type Refractor Telescope, Mercator's Projection Map of the World, "Rise of Steel Technology" Mural by Nat Youngblood.

2) A copy of the award letter(s) to the organization(s) which received bid award(s) to preserve the four artifacts in question: Zeiss II Planetarium Projector, 10-inch Siderostat-type Refractor Telescope, Mercator's Projection Map of the World, "Rise of Steel Technology" Mural by Nat Youngblood.

3) A copy of the signed and legally in-force lease contract(s) between the City of Pittsburgh and the organization(s) which received bid award(s) to preserve the four artifacts in question: Zeiss II Planetarium Projector, 10-inch Siderostat-type Refractor Telescope, Mercator's Projection Map of the World, "Rise of Steel Technology" Mural by Nat Youngblood. If a lease contract has not yet been signed, we ask to see any draft lease contract that is available; please state when you would expect a lease contract(s), for each of the artifacts, to be signed and legally in-force.

Mr. Dale A. Perrett 2002 July 1 Page 2 of 2

4) A copy of the signed and legally in-force lease contract(s) between the City of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Children's Museum, for The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science building and land.

Finally, we, respectfully, ask that the Department of General Services not allow the removal, from The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, of any piece of equipment or artifacts until two requirements are met:

1) The organization(s) awarded the lease of the four Buhl Planetarium artifacts has "complete and secured financing arrangements," as required in the RFP, for the proper dismantling, transport, storage, and reconstruction of said artifacts. This financial ability should be publicly demonstrable under the terms of the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law [Act of June 21, 1957, P.L. 390, No. 212, 60 P.S. 66.1 et seq., as amended].

2) The new tenant(s) of The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science has "complete and secured financing arrangements" for the completion of any proposed rehabilitation project. This financial ability should be publicly demonstrable under the terms of the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law [Act of June 21, 1957, P.L. 390, No. 212, 60 P.S. 66.1 et seq., as amended].

In the case of the rehabilitation project proposed by the Pittsburgh Children's Museum, we note that the publicized June groundbreaking did not occur, due to a lack of State funding[the Children's Museum is requesting $7-10 million from the Commonwealth for the proposed project]. Considering the current financial plight of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it could be a year, or longer, before State funding is available for the Children's Museum's proposed rehabilitation project. Indeed, considering that Phipps Conservatory has been waiting nearly two years for their request of $5 million in State funds for their expansion project, it seems that capital funding for museum expansion projects has a low priority in State Government, at this time.

Should the Children's Museum's proposed project be indefinitely deferred, the Buhl Planetarium artifacts should remain in the building for possible use by other tenants. Yes, there is a definite chance that other possible tenants may wish to take advantage of the unique assets in the Buhl Planetarium.

Indeed, just a few years ago the National Aviary considered expanding their operation into the Buhl Planetarium. At that time, they were very interested in using the Zeiss II Planetarium Projector to produce a program, which educated the public on how birds navigate by the stars. This would have been a wonderful reuse of the historic Zeiss projector!

Should the Children's Museum's proposed project be indefinitely deferred, the Steering Committee of Friends of the Zeiss would be very interested in exploring, with the City of Pittsburgh, alternative uses of the Buhl Planetarium building.

Thank you for your kind consideration of these requests. I will look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Sincerely yours,

Glenn A. Walsh

Project Director

gaw

Copy: Members of the Council of the City of Pittsburgh

Members of Friends of the Zeiss

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