An Enterprise to Improve L.A.’s Celestial Eyesight

After “Star Trek,” Leonard Nimoy lost touch with the cosmos. He was grounded in Los Angeles under a shroud of hazy light that obscures all but the brightest stars and planets. He got a really nice telescope and set it up in his backyard, but he found only the astronomical equivalent of pea soup.

Even for the intrepid Mr. Spock, the only really good place to see the stars in Los Angeles--the cosmic ones, anyway--is at the Griffith Observatory. The 66-year-old landmark serves as a celestial connection in a city that has more stars on the Hollywood Boulevard sidewalk than are visible in its night sky.

“For a lot of people, the Griffith Observatory provides the first real sense of how we fit into the universe, what are the larger possibilities of our lives and what we mean in the larger scheme of things,” Nimoy said. “It’s a mind-expanding experience.”

But soon the observatory, too, will be eclipsed.

In January, it will close for 2 1/2 years for a $63-million renovation and expansion. Nimoy and his wife, Susan, donated $1 million to the project to give a boost to a beloved L.A. landmark and further link Nimoy’s legacy to the stars.

Less than six months remain to appreciate a darkened night sky full of stars under the planetarium dome (one of the largest ever built), get a self-esteem boost by checking your weight on Mars (you’re about two-thirds lighter) or to ride that distinctly ‘70s groove at a Laserium light show (best viewed to Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon”).

The building’s graceful Art Deco curves and copper domes will disappear under scaffolding as contractors patch holes and scrape away decades of grime. Even the stellar view of the city and the Hollywood sign from the grounds will be lost as workers burrow underground to create 35,000 square feet of new exhibit space.

“The first thing people are going to miss is the view,” said Ed Krupp, the observatory’s charismatic director. “It’s one of those places where the sky opens up. You see the city. You see the sky. You see where they meet. You’re at a place that by its very function seems to put you right at that edge of Earth and sky. The ability to do that in this city is going to narrow dramatically.”

The only comparable view--from the summit of nearby Mt. Hollywood--requires a somewhat taxing hike up a dusty trail. The peak is only 500 feet above the observatory, but because the parking lot (where the trail begins) will become a construction zone, people are going to have to work a lot harder and hike longer for the same vista.

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Two million people--including 50,000 schoolchildren--visit the observatory each year, but it’s still one of those places Angelenos take for granted.

It’s so familiar, it’s forgettable.

“Isn’t it a shame? My daughter is 13 years old and this is the first time I’ve brought her up here,” said Charlene Levell, a teacher who last visited the observatory as a child 37 years ago. “This place is a treasure.”

She made the drive from Claremont on a Saturday so her daughter, Ashleigh, could earn extra school credit. The spectacular Hugo Ballin murals in the main rotunda and the sparkling lights on the planetarium dome brought Levell a flood of memories.

She said little has changed.

Other than cracks and signs of age, little has changed. The planetarium show Ashleigh attended was generated by the same Zeiss star projector as the show her mother saw in 1964. And the two sat in seats that were brand-new back then--relics that will not be missed when the renovated planetarium reopens in the fall of 2004.

“I have affidavits verifying that they are the most uncomfortable seats in the Milky Way galaxy,” Krupp said. The old star projector, too, is on its last legs. “It’s running on chewing gum and baling wire. We can’t even get parts for it anymore.”

“We’ve seen more than our share of deferred maintenance,” he said.

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Opened on May 14, 1935, the observatory is the legacy of Col. Griffith J. Griffith. After becoming somewhat star-struck while looking through the 60-inch telescope at the Mt. Wilson Observatory, he decreed in his will that Los Angeles should have a world-class public observatory.

“He said, ‘If everybody on Earth could look through that telescope, it would change the world,”’ Krupp said. Today, more people have looked through the Griffith Observatory’s 12-inch Zeiss telescope than any other telescope on Earth. An estimated 67 million people have visited the observatory since it opened.

More have seen it on the silver screen. It starred alongside James Dean and Natalie Wood in 1955’s “Rebel Without a Cause,” one of the few films that portrayed the building as itself. On the front lawn, a spooky eyeless bust of Dean commemorates the movie. The observatory also served as a cosmic castle in 1948’s “Superman” serial and the place where the title character in “The Terminator” gets his first look at L.A. before setting out to wreak havoc.

But its real mission, says Krupp, is to inspire Angelenos--young and old--who are “more likely to see a Milky Way at a candy counter than in the sky.”

“How will kids know there is a Milky Way if they don’t come to the observatory?” Krupp said. “We preserve those stars kind of like an endangered species on the dome.”

The planetarium dome, like the rest of the building, is showing its age. The exterior copper dome leaks, causing cracks and water stains on the planetarium ceiling, six stories high. Paint is peeling everywhere, and the stone floors are chipped and cracked. Ballin’s murals are faded and bear some minor scars from the 1994 Northridge quake.

It’s a long-overdue freshening up, said Sammy Wong, the city of Los Angeles project manager who is overseeing the renovation. “It’s going to look at lot better. Imagine a building that hasn’t really been repaired in 66 years.”

Nothing about the look of the observatory will change. Contractors are charged with preserving its classic Art Deco style. Everything new will be hidden or underground.

The project is more than just a repair job. Workers will replace the planetarium’s old Zeiss Mark II projector with a new model--a Mark IX with enhancements made especially for the observatory. It will be the most advanced star projector on Earth.

The Nimoys’ $1-million donation will go toward a new namesake theater in the 35,000-square-foot expansion under the front lawn, one of several planned improvements intended to transport visitors even deeper into the universe.

Exhibits in the Hall of Science will be enhanced. A new camera obscura, essentially a projection of an outside image into a darkened room, will give an even better view of the surrounding park and neighborhood. And the curved walls around the solar telescopes in the west hall will be opened so people can see their inner workings.

Taxpayers will pay $28 million through bond measures. The Friends of the Observatory raised $15 million, and the group is seeking $20 million more to complete the work.

“Nothing has been done to that observatory since it was built in 1935, and look at what has happened with technology today,” said Susan Bay Nimoy, who is using the couple’s Hollywood star power to raise more money. “The expansion and renovation will bring people into contact with the universe as never before. It’s critical that L.A. have an observatory that’s world-class.”

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A few attractions will not return.

The improved camera obscura will replace the popular World War II submarine telescope, which might be transferred to a maritime museum. So this is the last chance to direct imaginary torpedoes at those multimillion-dollar mansions in Los Feliz.

Another casualty: the Laserium show. The observatory’s only purely commercial attraction since 1973, the $8 psychedelic light show to the music of the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith and ‘80s pop groups has seen declining attendance in recent years, Krupp said. Audiences expect more sophisticated visual effects, which Krupp said will be delivered with the new fiber-optic planetarium projector.

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Despite the old-school technology, the observatory holds up surprisingly well.

The old planetarium projector turns out relevant shows. The latest, “Oceans of Mars,” incorporates some of the newest pictures from spacecraft such as the Mars Global Surveyor and animations of the Huygens probe, which will drop in on Saturn’s moon Titan shortly after the observatory reopens in 2004.

The probe will probably disprove the view space artist Chesley Bonestell envisioned in his 1949 painting “Saturn Seen From Titan,” which is on display with more of his original artwork in the east hall.

The observatory is not the kind of place to tackle with an agenda. Its very design invites leisurely introspection, pondering the rotation of the Earth while watching the mesmerizing Foucault pendulum or examining the intense expressions of Atlas, the four winds and zodiac figures in Ballin’s amazing 1934 ceiling mural in the rotunda.

The observatory challenges visitors to think big.

“I think astronomy’s most important product is perspective, cosmic perspective,” Krupp said. “The big questions that the sky prompts inspire a sense of wonder, and that precipitates curiosity. In fact, if we intend to give the dinosaurs a run for their money--and 250 million years is no slouching time on the planet--we have an obligation to use the big brain with all the flair we can muster. Part of that ability to use the brain comes from this imaginative reach. And the sky has--as long as we document our interaction with it--launched us into that frame of mind.”

On clear nights, the 12-inch Zeiss rooftop telescope is trained on the moon or whatever planets are making their trek across the Los Angeles horizon. Right now, Mars hovers on the southeastern horizon (most visible around midnight), lurking about as close to Earth as it gets, roughly 40 million miles. The observatory has a telephone line which the public can call to find out what’s going on in the night sky.

Nimoy has made several trips to the observatory to look through the telescope.

“People, I guess, don’t get around to thinking about what an exciting evening it can be to go up and take a look,” he said.

The city’s haze of light limits the telescope’s view to larger celestial bodies. But it still gives a great view of the brightest objects in the night sky. Lately, it provided the best view in Los Angeles of comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp.

On the other end of the building, a trio of solar telescopes provides live images of different aspects of the sun. The telescopes operate only on cloudless days.

The halls and galleries are devoted to basic science with scale models of the moon, the Hubble space telescope and a rock from Mars. There’s also a graph of the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which knocked out power and puzzled Angelenos with their first good look at the stars in decades. The observatory logged hundreds of phone calls.

Krupp said the observatory will continue to answer L.A.’s cosmic questions, even as its headquarters is on hiatus. He hopes to secure funding to set up an observatory-in-exile that will provide a quick fix for people who want to see the stars. But until the planetarium returns, there’s really only one good stargazing option: “It’s really simple: Go someplace far, go someplace high, go someplace dark and you might get somewhere.

“For me this is a little like the old classic illustrated comic book,” Krupp said of his beloved observatory. “They would do comic book versions of ‘Ivanhoe’ and ‘Moby-Dick.’ On the one hand, it seems a little silly. How can you replace a great classic with a comic book? Of course you can’t. But that facsimile can inspire. Our attitude is now that you’ve enjoyed this stunning facsimile, get yourself out to a real night sky.”

* The Griffith Observatory, 2800 E. Observatory Road in Griffith Park, L.A. Park entrances at Hillhurst and Vermont avenues and Los Feliz Boulevard. Hours: Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 to 10 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, 12:30 to 10 p.m.; closed Mondays. Admission to Hall of Science and telescopes, free. Planetarium shows: $4, regular admission (ages 12 to 64); $2, children (ages 5 to 12); $3, seniors (65 and older); children under 5 not admitted. Laserium shows: $8, adults; $7, children (ages 5 to 12) and seniors (65 and older); children under 5 not admitted. (323) 664-1191; astronomy hotline (323) 663-8171. https://www.griffithobservatory.org. “Oceans of Mars” runs through Sept. 10.