The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science was
created by a bequest of the estate of Henry Buhl, Jr. (d. 1928), prominent Pittsburgh retailer
and philanthropist. The Buhl Foundation was created, at the request of Henry's wife, to provide
grants for research in social and natural sciences, education, public health, housing, and city
planning. The origin of the foundation was a condition of Henry Buhl's last will and testament.
The Buhl Foundation forged the plan for the Planetarium and Institute as a memorial to Mr. Buhl
and a fitting tribute to his public-minded values. The Foundation retained Pittsburgh architects
Ingham & Boyd in 1935 to design a monumental structure to house the innovative Zeiss II
Planetarium Projector, provide display space for a multitude of science and astronomy-related
exhibits, and to create research facilities for scientific study, astronomical observation and
experimentation.
The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science would be
constructed upon the site of the former Allegheny City Hall, owned then as now by the City.
Pittsburgh City government viewed the construction of the Buhl as the centerpiece of the
much-desired renaissance of the declining North Side and enthusiastically supported the concept
of the Buhl as the core of the city's "second cultural and civic center." The City leased the
land to the Buhl Foundation in 1937 for said purpose, and the Buhl Foundation financed the
$ 1.10 million project. The construction bid was awarded to the general contractors, W.F.
Trimble and Sons. The lease was assigned to the Board of Directors of the Buhl Planetarium
and Institute of Popular Science on completion and acceptance on the construction project.
The relatives of Henry Buhl Jr. were joined by the public to witness
Mayor Cornelius D. Scully and W. S. Linderman (President of the Buhl Planetarium Board) dig
into the earth and tossed the first shovels of dirt at the groundbreaking ceremony held April
14, 1938. The ceremony was broadcast live by KDKA and was covered by Dave Garroway. Other
notables at the groundbreaking include City Councilmen G.E. Evans, T.J. Gallagher, F.W. Wier
and Robert Garland. William F. Trimble Jr. represented the contracting firm. William Rodgers
of McCrady-Rodgers Company and A.W. Robertson of the Buhl Foundation Board of Managers were
also present.
Relatives of Henry Buhl, Jr., toured the building privately on the
afternoon of the dedication. A portrait, of Henry Buhl Jr. was commissioned by the Buhl
Foundation and presented to the Buhl Family during their private tour of the Planetarium.
The building was dedicated to the public and conveyed to the City of Pittsburgh on Tuesday
evening, October 24, 1939.
The Dedication Ceremony was held in the "Theater of the Stars".
The singing of the Star Spangled Banner was lead by Miss Mabel King and The Right Reverend
Alexander Mann, D.D, delivered the Dedication prayer. Mr. William S. Linderman, President
of the Board of Managers of the Buhl Foundation gave the opening statement and Mr. Charles F.
Lewis, Director of The Buhl Foundation made the Presentation of the facility. Mayor Cornelius
D. Scully accepted the Buhl Planetarium on behalf of the City of Pittsburgh.
Mr. James Stokley, Director of The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of
Popular Science then demonstrated the planetarium with a sky show entitled, "Stars over
Pittsburgh". The sky, as it would appear on the evening of the dedication, was recreated for
the audience in the planetarium. Music for the dedication and the planetarium sky show was
provided by the planetarium organ and played by Mr. Joseph R. DeOtto. After the sky show, the
audience toured the building and explored the interactive exhibits and the astronomy paintings
by D. Owen Stevens.
The building is adorned with sculptures (The Heavens, The Earth, Day,
Night, Modern Science, and Primitive Science) created by the well-known artist Sidney Waugh.
The names of famous Astronomers and Scientists adorn the stonework at the base of the large
exterior metal planetarium dome and the Foucault pendulum pit is of Florentine marble. The
building was affectionately known as The Buhl Planetarium or
The Buhl.
Over 200,000 people visited The Buhl in the first year of its opening.
Admission to the building exhibits was free and the sky show was 25 cents. The money was used to
offset the maintenance costs of the building. The 1967 admission fee for the facility was 35
cents for children and 85 cents for adults. The Buhl was the first building in Pittsburgh with
air conditioning.
The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science was the fifth
major planetarium in the United States and the last one built before World War II. The Buhl was
the only facility of the five to combine a planetarium and a science museum in one building.
(The other planetaria were stand-alone planetariums or additions to natural history museums.)
The designers and engineers incorporated a number of innovations that
created a facility that is truly unique to the world. Buhl was the first and only planetarium
in the world to mount a 6000-pound star-projector (Zeiss Model II) on an elevator. This one of
a kind elevator was designed and constructed by the Westinghouse Corporation here in Pittsburgh.
This innovation has never been recreated. This innovation afforded the use of the planetarium
as a theater in the round. Buhl was the first and only facility of its kind to incorporate a
dedicated stage as part of the planetarium theater design as well.
Buhl was the first planetarium in America to consider the hearing
impaired visitors and installed a special sound system to meet their needs. The Buhl Planetarium
and Institute of Popular Science is the last facility, in America, of the five great planetaria
to retain its original architectural splendor and the original planetarium projector.
Over 100 thousand adults and children have been educated at Buhl's
classes, lectures, and workshops. (This count does not include the number of people informally
educated while visiting Buhl.) Topics have included the construction of telescopes, rocketry,
robotics, chemistry, astronomy, philosophy, physics, biology, mathematics, engineering, and
space exploration.
The existence of Buhl, its programs, and outreach activities, are
credited with providing the inspiration and impetus for many young Pittsburghers to enter
careers in the sciences, including NASA Astronaut Jay Apt and Jim Irwin, a Beechview native and
Apollo Astronaut who walked on the moon. Many other prominent scientists and engineers in
Pittsburgh businesses and universities are "graduates" of the Buhl's programs. Buhl graduates
have gone on to pursue careers in technology, medicine, law and government, including Former
State Senator Michael Schaefer. The accomplishments of these individuals have contributed
significantly to the rise of Pittsburgh as a center for high technology and higher education in
scientific disciplines. (To quote Dr. Apt: "Buhl classes are probably the best preparation for
a technical career I can imagine.")
The Buhl Planetarium's Theater of the Stars was used to train World
War II Armed Forces military pilots in the art of celestial navigation. The 65-foot diameter
sky show dome distinguishes Buhl as one of the largest classic planetarium theaters in
existence. (This dome is larger than the one that graces the Taj Mahal.) Buhl Planetarium now
contains the world's oldest operating original Zeiss Model II Star Projector and the world's
largest, and only siderostat telescope installed for public use.
The siderostat telescope permitted the public to view the night sky
while remaining warm and dry, and the tracking mirror took the worry out of moving the telescope
to view celestial objects. Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the moon were popular nighttime objects,
and sunspot images were safely projected during the day. (Although the telescope was mentioned
at the dedication, it was not purchased and installed until 1941.) The purchase price of the
telescope was $ 30,000 and the dedication was held on the evening of November 19, 1941.
The object viewed that Wednesday evening was the planet Saturn.
The telescope was also utilized for a lunar mapping project headed by
Francis Graham, an associate professor of physics at Kent State and the principal founder of the
Tripoli Rocketry Association. (Mr. Graham's name can be seen at the Wall of Fame within the Air
and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.)
From 1929-1935, twenty-five Zeiss Model II projectors were fabricated
in Jena, Germany. The Zeiss Model II was the first projector capable of displaying the northern
or southern sky, on any given time of the day, 26,000 years into the past or the future. The
Zeiss at Buhl Planetarium is number 25, and was the last projector built before W.W. II. The
Zeiss at Buhl Planetarium was purchased for $135,000.
On August 31, 1991, the Buhl's new role was that of a science center.
During this period the role of the facility was being redefined. The Planetarium Theater and
the telescope were no longer open to the public and public lectures and science demonstrations
were discontinued as well. The building was utilized for staff offices and an exhibits design
center. The workshop and staff would later be moved to the newly opened facility. A limited
number of Saturday Science classes were the only public events scheduled at the facility.
The city closed the building and locked the doors to the public in February of 1994. Over
6,000,000 people have visited Buhl during its operation.
Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science currently contains
the planet's largest siderostat telescope for public use and the world's oldest planetarium
projector mounted on the only custom elevator of its kind, constructed and set in the last
untouched public planetarium in America. The facility has purportedly been utilized since that
time only for storage space.
No attempt was made to catalog or preserve the historical contents of
the building after its closing. Artifacts discarded and discovered in the dumpster include
scientific equipment, scrapbooks, and the original architect's model of the building.
The final resting-place of many of the other artifacts and the first edition books authored by
renowned scientists and lecturers housed in Buhl's Library is, at this time unknown.
Books from Buhl's Library have turned up at Thrift Shops in the area.
A book from Buhl's collection will be marked with a label on the inside of the front cover or
the Copyright page will be embossed with a Buhl seal. Some of the books will contain the seal
and the label.
Please contact SAVE THE BUHL.org if any books
or artifacts are located. We will catalog the articles by title, copyright date, publisher or
manufacture, and location of discovery. Please forward an accurate description of the article
and a color photograph of the article to SAVE THE BUHL.org Box 431 Pgh, PA 15230 USA.
(Do not send the actual article!) We will incorporate this information into the BUHL
PLANETARIUM and INSTITUTE of POPULAR SCIENCE website SAVE THE BUHL.org.
