Statement before the Glenn A. Walsh
Board of
Directors,
Allegheny Regional Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15230-1041 U.S.A.
Asset District: Telephone:
412-561-7876
Children’s Museum Electronic
Mail: < gawalsh@planetarium.cc
>
Seeks Tax Funds for Internet Web Site: < http://www.planetarium.cc >
Old Post Office Rehab 2006 August 28
Good afternoon, I am Glenn A. Walsh of
Director of Friends of the Zeiss.
For Fiscal Year 2007, the Children’s
Museum wishes to repair and restore the roof
of the historic Old Allegheny Post
Office building in an $89,278 project—half to be
paid for by State taxpayers through a
Keystone Grant and half to be paid for by
County taxpayers through a RAD grant.
When discussing the deteriorated condition
of the Post Office roof in the grant
application, the Children’s Museum noted
that in March of 2002 a roofing
contractor “found that the roof had open
seams and deteriorated flashing and
recommended that the roof be
replaced…There is also physical evidence of plaster
damage in the southeast & southwest
corners of the high ceiling near the
Post Office building’s copper dome.
Water is coming into the building because
of the roof deficiencies. Patching and
painting is needed to restore the integrity
of the building.”
Well, this clearly demonstrates the
extremely misguided priorities of Children’s
Museum management. In 2002, a contractor
recommended roof replacement, when
the Children’s Museum was completing a
$29 million capital campaign. Such a large
capital campaign could have easily been
reprogrammed to include a $90,000 roof
replacement project. Instead of using
the capital campaign money to restore the
Post Office roof, it was used to gut
Buhl Planetarium’s historic Planetarium Theater,
Observatory, and Lecture Hall, and
remove an astronomical inscription from the Bible,
from the east exterior wall of the
Planetarium building.
Now the Children’s Museum seeks
taxpayers’ money to restore the Post Office roof—notice
that their proposed project does not
include one dime of private funds! And, unlike the Buhl Planetarium building
which is owned by the City, the Post Office building is owned by the
Children’s Museum. It is now clear that
the Children’s Museum has no interest in Pittsburgh
history—they will only restore history
if the taxpayers pay for it!
The Children’s Museum knew the Post
Office roof was a priority and ignored it until the
capital project funding was depleted.
Now they expect $90,000 of taxpayers’ money to fix
the roof in their privately-owned
building.
It is the position of Friends of the
Zeiss that no public funds should be used for this roof
replacement project, or for general
subsidy of the Children’s Museum, until the Children’s
Museum presents a plan to truly restore
important
historic Buhl Planetarium artifacts,
particularly the Zeiss II Planetarium Projector and
10-inch Siderostat-type Refractor
Telescope, to be used to teach Science to children visiting
the Children’s Museum.
Thank you.
gaw