The New Griffith Observatory, A First Look

As promised, here’s a first look at the new (and improved?) Griffith Observatory, set to officially open on November 3rd.

The date was announced by a giddy Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa who arrived at the front lawn news conference the same way the rest of us will starting next month—by transit shuttle. For “a short period of time,” explained Villaraigosa, visitors will have to make a reservation, and then be transported up to the observatory by shuttle, to avoid what the mayor described as “gridlock.”

“There’s only 199 parking spaces up here,” said Department of Recreation and Parks General Manager John Kirk Murkri. “That’s it.”

General shuttle reservations can be made through either the Observatory Web site (http://www.griffithobservatory.org) or by calling (888) 695-0888. Prices (yes, prices!) will be $8, $4 for children ages 5-12 and seniors 60 and over, and free for children 4 and under. There was no word as to whether or not these fees are legal under the conditions established by Griffith J. Griffith. But with all the astrologically questionable mentions of how both Los Angeles and Outer Space are “limitless,” who could care!?

Other mayoral highlights included a clever pun (“Construction costs have gone up astronomically”), and a quick save when the Los Angeles and California State flags took a tumble from the stage. Our hero.

As for the observatory itself, a whirlwind tour with Exhibits Director Dr. Ed C. Krupp revealed a gorgeously renovated building, with the original murals and architecture restored to their original glory, while necessary modernizations like wheelchair-accessible ramps, a classroom, bookstore and a Wolfgang Puck-operated “Café at the End of the Universe” are blended in with impressive seamlessness.

As for exhibits, the big gun appears to be “The Big Picture,” a 152-foot long, 20-foot high “cosmic panorama” covering an entire wall of the “Gunther Depths of Space Exhibits” room, put together by Caltech Professor George Djorgovski using data from the Palomar-Quest digital sky survey. It’s the largest astronomical image ever produced, aimed at “inspiring the public with the wonders of space exploration,” according to a release.

Also in the “Depths of Space” room were exhibits on stars, galaxies, telescopes, and each of the planets in our solar system, with working scales on which weight-conscious Angelenos can see that they’d yield only 15.7 pounds on the moon! (But 240.6 on Jupiter. So much for space travel. )

This writer’s Deep Space highlight was the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theater, funded by Spock himself, where the realms of entertainment and science have been melded in a satisfyingly L.A. way.

The Samuel Oschin Planetarium was off-limits, but cushy, plastic-wrapped chairs and a new, state-of-the-art projector were visible through the caution tape.

Other than a long, blank panel-walled hallway dubbed “The Cosmic Connection” and a few empty displays, the renovation looks nearly complete, and visitors are encouraged to begin making reservations ASAP. Incase you forget, however, we’ll soon be inundated by a bilingual ad campaign reminding us:

“The Night Sky. By Reservation Only.”

Only in L.A.

http://www.griffithobservatory.org