The Griffith Observatory on Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, USA, will reopen on 3 November following a US$93m (£49.4m, 73.7m euro) renovation and expansion project.
The observatory closed in January 2002 for redevelopment by the Department of Recreation and Parks – which owns and operates the facility – in co-operation with the non-profit support organisation Friends Of The Observatory (FOTO).
The observatory now features an additional 40,000sq ft (3,700sq m) of floor space, which incorporates a new multi-level gallery featuring 60 new exhibits – called Richard and Lois Gunther Depths of Space – and a 200-seat presentation theatre called Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon as well as a classroom, café and book shop.
The existing 300-seat Samuel Oschin Planetarium now features a ‘seamless’ dome, star projector, digital laser projectors and an upgraded sound system and lighting.
Edwin Krupp, director of Griffith Observatory, said: “One of the fundamental principles was to improve the quality of the experience for our visitors. That meant improving the building, restoring it to its 1935 grandeur, expanding its technological horizons and more than doubling the amount of public space so that people could spread out more. We wanted visitors to enjoy features which would allow them to explore astronomy and to relax for a few moments at this junction of earth and sky.”
LA-based Pfeiffer Partners and Levin & Associates Architects worked with the Department of Recreation and Parks, the Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering and FOTO to complete the revamp.
California-based Amoroso was the renovation construction contractor and C&G Partners LLC in New York designed the exhibits.
Almost 70 million people visited the Griffith Observatory between its opening in 1935 and its closure in 2002. Details: www.griffithobservatory.org.
