For more than six
decades, Griffith Observatory has fulfilled its mission of enhancing
public understanding of the sky. Perched on the slope of Mt.
Hollywood and overlooking Los Angeles, the Observatory was a
gift of Col. Griffith, who had earlier donated the land for
Griffith Park, and the Observatory is administered by the Department
of Recreation and Parks of the City of Los Angeles. According
to Col. Griffith's wishes, admission to the Observatory and
its telescopes is free, although there is a modest $4 charge
for admission to public planetarium shows. The landmark thirties
moderne building is a popular destination for local families
and young people as well as tourists, especially at night when
millions of city lights are spread out below, and it is celebrated
as one of the most romantic spots in Los Angeles. It is also
a popular location for Hollywood's most famous industry, and
it has been featured in hundreds of movies and television shows.
The Observatory interprets the sky through the Hall of Science
astronomy museum, through solar telescopes that display images
of the sun on sunny days, through a 12-inch (30-centimeter)
Zeiss refracting telescope that is turned toward the moon
and planets at night, through news releases and special lectures,
through planetarium shows, the world wide web, and through
a deluge of e-mail and correspondence from around the world.
In 1964, the original Zeiss Mark II star projector was replaced
with a Mark IV, but that is the only significant improvement
since 1935! -- despite the fact that the number of people
who enter through the bronze doors each year -- nearly two
million -- is now greater than the entire population of Los
Angeles when the Observatory opened.
We are pleased to announce today that a substantial portion
of the funds have been secured from both public and private
sources to renovate completely the Griffith Observatory and
to make substantial additions to the existing landmark structure
that will propel it well into the next century. I'd like to
describe this $83,000,000 project.
First, the planetarium theater will be completely gutted.
The existing plaster dome, seats, wall, floor, and equipment
will be removed. What will remain is our show philosophy,
which emphasizes observing the actual sky. This leads us to
retain a horizontal floor and a 180° horizontal dome,
but to convert from a concentric seating plan to unidirectional.
The audience of 300 will face forward under a new 23.5-meter
dome – which will remain, as it always has been, the
largest planetarium dome in California. As always, our school
and our public shows will be presented live by a skilled narrator
who humanizes astronomy in shows that have strong storytelling
value. Ian McLennan recently urged that "By going back
to the basics of a live presenter, we have the opportunity
to re-introduce professional theatrics that can assist us
in reaching the public at a very high level of engagement
including fundamental and excellent story-telling." Griffith
has always embraced this principle and has not and will not
present prerecorded "movies" in the planetarium
theater.
I am pleased to announce that our venerable Zeiss Mark IV
will be replaced by a Zeiss Mark IX, and Griffith will continue
more than 66 years tradition of displaying the best possible
sky. Our thanks to Pearl Reilly and the good folks at Seiler
Instruments and Carl Zeiss Jena for making it possible to
own such a marvelous machine.
Our miscellaneous collection of dozens of slide and special
effects projectors will be replaced by a full-dome laser projection
system. The dream of being able to place bright, colorful,
seamless, moving images anywhere on the dome and to move them
to any other place will soon be a reality, and Griffith anticipates
ordering one of the first all-dome laser video systems for
a planetarium theater. I can't tell you how excited we are
about being able to fill the dome with color and motion --
or just to put a simple graphic precisely where we want it.
We do not, however, intend to be seduced by technology. The
laser projection system will give us brighter, larger, and
more dynamic visuals, but the visuals will not dictate the
show content or style. The story will remain king. Shows at
Griffith have not been and will not become "rides"
where thrill replaces content. These technological wonders
are tools to accomplish our story-telling goals, and we will
use them, rather than allow them to use us.
We expect our new planetarium theater to be fully booked
with exciting, live, planetarium shows, and so we will construct
a new underground theater, called the "Leonard Nimoy
Event Horizon," to accommodate additional events. This
200-seat raked theater will be used for special lectures,
media events such as press conferences, and for auxiliary
presentations for school groups. It will also be rented for
fundraising.
This Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon theater will be constructed
underground – under the front lawn. There is no place
to add an additional wing to the classic existing building
without compromising its architectural integrity and view,
and so new additions will be placed under the front lawn and
under viewing terraces behind the main building. The Observatory
sits on a granite mountain, so this is not a trivial task.
The Observatory's 5,000 square feet of exhibit area may have
seemed spacious in 1935, but not today. An additional 11,000
square feet, much of which will go under the front lawn next
to the Event Horizon theater, will more than double the size
of the exhibit space to a total of 1,000 square meters.
The Observatory is not a science center and its exhibits
will not confuse entertainment with inspiration and learning.
The thematic umbrella for exhibits is "Observing the
Sky." New and renovated exhibits will be designed to
alter the way we think about the sky and thus about ourselves.
Our telescopes will continue to delight visitors with eyeball-to-the-eyepiece
views of the moon and planets and with projected live images
of the sun. Exhibits will emphasize how prehistoric to modern
skywatchers observed the sky with their eyes and with scientific
tools to answer the questions "who and where are we"
and "how did we come to be here." The new exhibits
may include a giant astrolabe, a series of large dioramas
or "habitats" of moon observers from different cultures
and ages, a steerable camera obscura, and a life-size replica
of the Farnese Atlas. The existing upstairs Hall of Science
will retain its classic look, while the new underground area
will transport the visitor into today's and tomorrow's universe.
The new underground addition will also feature an expanded
book and gift shop, a modest caféteria-style food service
area, and completely reorganized office, shop, and production
areas.
A major component of the project is the renovation of the
historic fabric of the existing building and domes. Nearly
seventy million visitors in more than six decades of high
use have taken their toll, and conservators have mapped a
plan to restore the floors, interior and exterior wall surfaces,
lighting fixtures, metalwork, and ceiling murals. New plumbing,
air conditioning, and electrical services will be installed,
and the building will be brought to code and to ADA compliance.
New elevators will transport visitors from the new lower exhibit
area to the roof.
The outer planetarium dome has lost its waterproofing seal,
and so in a tricky process, the dome's copper plates will
be removed, a waterproof membrane added, and the copper plates,
once cleaned, will be re-installed. Until the normal patina
starts to return, the dome will look like a new penny. The
copper on the telescope domes and main cupola will be cleaned
at the same time so the patination on all four matches.
Finally, we'll look forward to new observing terraces beside
the building and new landscaping.
According to the current timetable, the Griffith Observatory
closed in January 2002 and will be be closed for at least
three years.
