PITTSBURGH -- The Carnegie Science Center on Thursday threatened a lawsuit to stop the construction of Pittsburgh's North Shore Casino.

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Center officials said it all comes down to school buses and pedestrians.

The Science Center said the casino would strip away a safe pathway for students who visit the facility.

They want the City Planning Commission to make fixing those problems a requirement for approval of the casino master plan next Tuesday.

Despite last-minute maneuvering over the past two hours, both sides could be headed for a court fight.

Buses carry thousands of children to the science center, where officials insist that even with promised changes, the new casino's master plan creates problems instead of solving them.

"I have spoken directly with Don Barden (of PITG Gaming), and these conversations have been happening for months, and months and months," said Science Center Director Jo Haas.

Haas said those talks got her nowhere.

Now, Barden's spokesman said he's agreed to make most of the changes the science center has been asking for, which include making alternate street improvements for buses delivering children to the Science Center that now pass over what will be casino property.

But the Science Center responded by saying PITG Gaming has not agreed to their proposals and said there is no agreement.

"If they don't, we'll be forced to take the next level of potentially legal action to assure that our operation can be maintained in a successful manner," said Haas.

"If access to our site is dramatically impeded, it will have a dramatic impact on our ability to operate the site," said Carnegie Museums CEO David Hillenbrand.

One thing Barden said he is not agreeing to is building a tunnel or bridge for people getting to the Science Center by foot across main road traffic.

"There are going to be issues to be worked through," said Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. "We're doing so through the Gaming Task Force. We're doing so by having weekly meetings with the stakeholders on the North Shore."

The Science Center also wants requirements to make sure that bright lights at the new casino don't wash out the view from its Buhl observatory, which, they said, would make the sky-watching facility worthless.

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