For lease: One 1930s planetarium projector, slightly used. Must go due to unexpected move. Serious inquiries only. Two weeks after deciding the antique astronomy equipment still in place at the long-dormant Buhl Planetarium must be moved to make room for a $25 million Pittsburgh Children’s Museum expansion, city officials are looking for a new home for the stargazing gear. The department of general services has issued a request for proposals and is offering prospective lessees an appointment-only viewing of the Zeiss II projector, Siderostat telescope and other vintage tools. “Regardless of where it would end up, the city of Pittsburgh is still the owner. With that, we want to make sure it’s cared for properly,” said Dale Perrett, director of the department. So far, only one person has taken the tour: Glenn Walsh, a Mt. Lebanon resident and unofficial leader of a group of local stargazers who fought unsuccessfully against having the equipment evicted from the Buhl on the North Side. Walsh could not be reached for comment Friday. In order to qualify, though, applicants must demonstrate they can afford the expense of moving and maintaining the equipment, and have the facilities to publicly display it and all the appropriate insurance and other qualifications to take care of it. “We don’t want someone just to take it as a novelty. We want it to be sincere proposals that are submitted,” Perrett said. The application materials also specify that the equipment must remain in Pittsburgh and states that “no warranties, written or oral, apply to” it. Earlier this month, City Council approved a 30-year lease agreement for the Children’s Museum expansion that gave the city eight weeks to find a home for the Zeiss II projector, Siderostat telescope and other vintage astronomy gear. The Children’s Museum plans to break ground for the expansion in June. It will pay the city $1 a year to use the Buhl building, which has been empty since the Carnegie Science Center relocated to the North Shore almost a decade ago. The city does have a backup plan for the equipment. The Carnegie Science Center has offered to provide a home for it where it can be put on display, and to cover all the costs of moving and caring for it. But Walsh and his fellow amateur astronomers insist the equipment is still in perfect working order, so it should go somewhere where it can be used, not just displayed. The Zeiss II was featured at the planetarium since 1939 and is one of the oldest operable projectors of its kind in the world. The Siderostat telescope is the second-largest of its kind. Both pieces of equipment can still put on a great show, Walsh and the others have said. City Councilman Bill Peduto said the science center would also have to respond to the request for proposals, which were sent to the dozens of people who attended a public hearing on the fate of the Buhl equipment about a month ago, to see “if somebody can come up with a plan.” “We need to find a new home for those assets,” Peduto said. Offers still welcome Proposal packages for the Zeiss II projector and other equipment will be accepted until 2 p.m. May 23. Appointments to view the equipment are still available on Monday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. For more information, call the city’s department of general services at (412) 255-2330.

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