Thanks Chuck. I mostly agree with you - however, sometimes old buildings just can't serve "modern" needs. I'm not familiar with the planetarium, but it sounds like you are right in this case, "needs" simply means fluff/fru-fru/BS - whatever you want to call it, not science. I like the idea of a new science center in the old building. I hope they can pull it off, especially if it means saving the planetarium theater and continuing its use. I hope the building's preservation doesn't just mean bastardizing it for an inappropriate use. I lived in Long Beach CA when I was seven years old. I have fond memories of the Griffith Planetarium where my parents frequently took my brother, sister and me for a weekend jaunt. It was sad the last time I was there to see that so many of the old science exhibits had been replaced with trinkets. I wasn't able to stay for a star show - I hope those hadn't gone the way of everything else.