Up in the Sky! It's the Observatory, Alive Again

The Griffith Observatory officially reopens its doors Friday at noon, but the ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony happens later this afternoon.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City Councilman Tom LaBonge, Rep. Adam Schiff, Griffith Observatory director Dr. E.C. Krupp, L.A. Dept. of Recreation and Parks GM Jon Kirk Mukri and Friends of the Observatory chairperson Joy Picus will lead the 4 p.m. event.

Given how crowded the Observatory is sure to be in the coming months -- as reservations to see the $93 million remodel fill up fast -- it might be some time before some of us get to see it up close and personal.

It's not the same thing as being there, but L.A. Voice's Mack Reed documented his recent sneak peak; check out his extensive photo roll. (That's one of his pics above.)

Of the new, redone Observatory, Mack writes:

Once you see what they've done with the place you'll be amazed they did it in only four years. In addition to completely re-frosting the art-deco temple of the skies, the engineers hollowed out the mountain underneath the front lawn to install 37,000 square feet of new exhibits underground ...

These include:

-- the gutted- digitized- and- rewired 300-seat Samuel Oschin Planetarium, complete with a computerized, fiber-optic-fed galaxy-projector and a digital 3-laser projection system that will probably blow certain Angelenos' hemp-soled shoes off.
-- the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon, a 200-seat theater named for the million-dollar donor who's apparently been a strong supporter of the renovations from the start.
-- The Gunther Depths of Space gallery, which has the world's largest astronomical image (152 feet long), a CGI smash- the- earth- with- a- giant- asteroid simulation, scale models of the planets (including the underloved Pluto) and a frosted-glass model of our galaxy designed to make you feel very, very, very small.

The "old" observatory - much restored with paint, plaster and polish - is still a stunner.

Hopefully, once the crowds die down in several months, we'll be able to once again park at the top of the hill. For now, a shuttle bus is required; check the main site for available times.