THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 14, 1994 TAG: 9411140063
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
He once sold the Seven Sisters to the Merchant Marines.
He has been asked to hang the sun and the moon in a Kuwaiti sheik's bedroom.
And once, he had to show off the galaxy to a group of Iraqi dignitaries - even though he didn'tspeak their language and they didn't speak his.
But Charles J. Wilkin's favorite story is about the time he installed a bright-orange throne for the Shai Boba, a mystic whose sect presented him with a ``star'' chamber in the middle of their Indian desert retreat for his 60th birthday.
Wilkin, of West Chester, Pa., installs planetariums around the world. This month he put one of the latest, most technologically advanced models in the new Children's Museum of Virginia.
The planetarium will be a highlight of the museum, formerly known as the Portsmouth Children's Museum. The facility is scheduled to open Dec. 10 at its new location, 221 High St.
``There are only 15 like this one in the world,'' Wilkin said recently while in town to install the equipment.
He should know. He has spent the past 25 years hanging constellations all over the world.
He also has installed a planetarium at the Pasteur Observatory in France.
In India, Wilkin had to meet a tough deadline for completing the planetarium for the Shai Boba. The mystic's followers were set to make a pilgrimage across the country to the Shai's village to celebrate his birthday. The planetarium was to highlight the weeklong celebration, which included a mass wedding ceremony of 150 couples, Wilkin said.
He made the deadline but didn't stay for the birthday party.
But, Wilkin said, the Portsmouth planetarium takes a back seat to none.
It incorporates the latest computer technology with the best in planetarium equipment. He said that if someone tapes a program, the computer can run the whole show without an operator.
While Wilkin is the technological whiz behind the new facility, Michael Nold is the man who has put soul into the attraction.
When it was announced two years ago that the planetarium was to be relocated, Nold, who has been the city's planetarium director for 21 years, immediately began raising money for the new facility.
The total cost of the new museum is in excess of $2 million. The Beazley Foundation Inc., a Portsmouth philanthropic organization, contributed $450,000, toward the planetarium.The city and the Portsmouth schools picked up the rest of the planetarium's cost. As a result, Portsmouth school groups will be able to visit the planetarium and museum free of charge. Others will pay $3 per person, which includes a planetarium show as well as other museum exhibits.
Nold has lovingly watched over the both city's planetariums since taking astronomy classes while teaching Earth Science in Portsmouth's public schools.
It was Nold who salvaged the chairs and nearly $40,000 in special-effects projectors and other parts from the old planetarium. He will continue as director of the new facility.
Nold has put much of himself into the new planetarium. He chose the dark blue upholstery - dotted with stars, moons and suns - that was used to cover the old chairs.
``I wish I had one of the chairs here for you to see,'' Nold said, holding a fabric sample. ``I think the children will love this, don't you? They can sit on the moon and sun while they're looking at the stars.''
Nold has tried to incorporate the ambience and fun of the Children's Museum into the planetarium.
Wilkin's company, Spitz Inc., a high-tech firm in Chadds Ford, Pa., specializes in planetarium construction. The company sold Portsmouth's old planetarium to a school in Colorado when the Manor High facility closed.
Since then, Nold has spent most of his time perfecting plans for the new building. He has ordered equipment and supervised the digging of the pit for the revolving projector that casts the stars and planets onto the room's domed ceiling.
Nold already has completed the design of the first planetarium program and said he will redesign the shows to reflect the changing exhibits in the museum's gallery. He also has designed special programs for the schools, tailoring each show to the ages and grade levels of the students.
Nold, a science teacher who has substituted in classrooms during the break between planetariums, will run the special school programs.
He and other staff members will present planetarium programs for general audiences on weekends and weekday afternoons.
``We want something for the whole family,'' Nold said. ``Portsmouth is lucky to have this.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
Charles J. Wilkin has installed planetariums around the world. You
can see his work at Portsmouth's museum on Dec. 10.
by CNB