PRIYA SHARMA/Daily Bruin Visitors flock to the Griffith
Observatory, which will be closed for renovations for two years.
Laserium will not return to the observatory at the facility’s
reopening in June 2004, but will move to a different venue.
By Kathleen Khong
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Griffith Observatory has been a landmark in Los Angeles
since its opening in 1935. Because of its unique architecture,
spectacular and romantic view of the famous Hollywood sign, and the
astronomic marvels it reveals, the observatory holds a special
place in visitors’ hearts, attracting millions each year.
In two more years, however, the observatory hopes to offer an
even better experience after it goes through a complete renovation
and expansion.
“The renovation is a $63 million project and is the
biggest city project that the recreation and parks has ever
done,” Kara Knack, renovations officer on the Board of
Directors of the Friends of the Observatory, said in a phone
interview from her home in Los Angeles.
The observatory will be closed for 27 months beginning in March
2002, David Hart, Key Commissioner of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer
Associates, an architectural firm handling the renovations,
said.
During this period, the observatory will be going through a
complete renovation, which includes a full refashioning of the
building and additions that will more than double its present size.
The Mount Hollywood trail, however, will remain open for those who
want to hike it and look down upon the observatory.
“The building hasn’t been touched since 1935 when it
was the third planetarium built in the world, so every single
surface inside and outside needs to be either cleaned or repaired,
and that involves an excavation of 23,000 square feet,” Knack
said.
To help house the 2 million tourists the observatory handles
each year, a 200-seat theater, which will be called the Leonard
Nemoy Event Horizon Theater, will be built. The new theater will
help meet the high demand for lectures and other events which the
single planetarium theater was unable to adequately facilitate.
A cafe food service area will also be incorporated within the
building, as well as a more spacious gift shop and bookstore. The
lower level will be reconfigured into an office area for staff and
a hydraulic elevator will be installed to make the observatory more
accessible to the disabled.
 PRIYA SHARMA/Daily Bruin The planetarium theater itself
is also going to go through a massive renovation. An acoustically
ideal perforated aluminum dome will replace the present plaster
dome. A new star ball, an all-dome digital projection system, and
more comfortable reclining seats will replace the original
equipment of the ’60s, from when the planetarium first
opened.
“When Griffith was built it was the best in the world, and
in renovating the planetarium, we want it to still be the best
planetarium in the world,” Hart said. “We’re
taking all measures to do that.”
These changes are all part of the observatory’s attempt to
make visitors’ experiences better and to fulfill Colonel
Griffith’s goal to make astronomy something that can be
enjoyed by all.
“Colonel Griffith left money for the building and he left
an idea of public astronomy that is very important,” Knack
said. “So, the idea behind the renovation was to make public
astronomy even better in this old building.”
“I hope … that people really get inspired to look up and
to understand that the sky is the biggest environment we
have,” she continued.
The renovations process first began in 1978 with the formation
of Friends of the Observatory, which Debra Griffith, granddaughter
of Colonel Griffith, created because she knew that the observatory
would eventually need help. The real work began after the master
plan was passed in 1990.
The newly refurbished Griffith Observatory will not be the only
thing that will have changed after the renovations. After the
temporary closure of the observatory, Laserium, a 28-year-old laser
and music show held at the planetarium, will not return.
“It certainly is nostalgic for us after we have been there
for such a long run and we will miss that,” Laserium creator
Ivan Dryer said.
“We are going to be originating a new form of Laserium in
our new venue on a different basis, so we think that we are keeping
up with the times if not getting ahead of them by doing
that,” he continued. “It is time for us to make a
change.”
The show will be relocated to a new venue in the L.A. area while
the Griffith Observatory goes through its renovations. Information
about the new site cannot be released now, Dryer said. The
potential areas for relocation, however, will be on the Laserium
Web site, www.laserium.com,
after plans are finalized.
In honor of its last year at the Griffith planetarium, Laserium
will be holding two special shows on March 28 and 29 geared toward
UCLA students who will be on spring break.
Laserium’s last year will also be packed with other
special events., such as a new “Laserium Nine Inch
Nails” that will premiere on April 3. During the course of
the year, Laserium will be reviewing some of its classic shows from
the last 10 years, and during the last month at the Observatory,
every show will be in 3-D as part of its grand finale
“3-December.”
Laserium is looking forward to positive changes that will bring
it to an advanced stage after it leaves the Griffith Observatory.
It plans to incorporate a video system utilizing lasers as a light
source which offers significant advantages over regular video,
Dryer said.
Though the new changes for the Laserium and the Griffith
Observatory will lead to the improvement of both, Hart noted one
downfall.
“The real negative of the renovations is to the people who
visit the observatory regularly because they won’t be able to
visit for two years,” Hart said. “But when it reopens,
people will find that we have removed a lot of the clutter that has
been added to it over the years and brought it back to its grandeur
in 1935 when it was first built.”
OBSERVATORY: For more information about the
Griffith Observatory go to www.griffithobservatory.org.