Buhl Planetarium under Construction

1938-05-27

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Buhl Planetarium under Construction
  • Title
  • Buhl Planetarium under Construction
  • Identifier
  • MSP80.B008.C05.I03
  • Source Identifier
  • MSP80.B008.C05.I03
  • Description
  • The Buhl Planetarium has the oldest operating, major planetarium projector in the world. The Zeiss Optical Works in Jena, Germany manufactured the projector at a cost of $135,000. It has 106 lenses capable of producing 9000 images of stars. It was the first building of its type to have an operating theatre with a special sound system for the hearing-impaired. Architects Ingham & Boyd designed the building in the stripped Classical style at a cost of $1.07 million. The building boasts sculpted reliefs and Indiana limestone walls on the exterior. The unique building is named in honor of Henry Buhl, Jr. (1869-1927), a City of Allegheny (now Pittsburgh’s North Side neighborhood) merchant who owned the Boggs and Buhl Department Store that catered to the wealthiest residents of the region. The store was located approximately one block from where the Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science is currently located. The department store closed in the late 1950s and was replaced by Allegheny Center Mall in the late 1960s. The Allegheny Market House (left background) was located southeast of the Buhl Planetarium. It was demolished in 1965 as part of a planned urban redevelopment of Allegheny Center and the central North Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
  • Genre
  • photographs
  • Subject
  • Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    North Side (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    Buildings--Design and construction--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
    Allegheny Market House (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    Dollar Savings &
    Trust Company Building (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
  • Source
  • Trimble Company Photographs, 1924-1951, MSP 80, Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center
  • Contributor
  • Detre Library & Archives, Heinz History Center
  • Collection
  • Trimble Company Records
  • Rights Information
  • In Copyright. This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).. Rights Holder: Senator John Heinz History Center
    http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
  • Rights Holder
  • Senator John Heinz History Center