Configuring Python for Tcl/Tk in UNIX

[Chris Marshall]

My goal is to use Tkinter on a ScientificLinux machine for a GUI I wrote.  I installed Python 2.6.2, then built Tcl and Tk 8.5.7 from source.  The final step is to configure Python 2.6 to run Tk.  When I use the "make" command in the Python 2.6.2 directory, all is well until it tries to built _tkinter.so.  I get an error as follows:
*** WARNING: renaming "_tkinter" since importing it failed: libtk8.5.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory.
Failed to build the following modules:
_tkinter

I cannot use the default install location of /usr/bin, so I am trying to install into another directory.  I line-by-line edited the setup.py file to point to the proper directory and I get the same error.

Has anyone had a similar problem?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris