Griffith Announces Opening

Yesterday, I forgot to point you to the press release from the observatory itself. There, you will find more information about the opening, on November 3rd, and about how to actually get there. They are forbidding access to the parking lot, and so you either take a shuttle bus, or you walk or cycle. It is depressing to me that people are already complaining about having to walk up a small hill from the picnic sites below (people who walk up are generically referred to as “hikers”, in the press release, which would give someone the impression that you need special equipment or something just to walk up the hill. Sigh.).

Anyway, some chatter from the press release. Let’s start out with 4th District Councilmember, Tom LaBonge, a veritable Paul Dirac of understatement and wall-flower-hood:

“Griffith Observatory is one of the best public spaces in the world if not the universe…”

Oh yes. Good ol’ Tom. He makes statements like this all the time. How can you not love his speeches? And then there’s the V-man himself:

“It is with great pride that we announce the November 3rd reopening date for Griffith Observatory, which has been an icon in Los Angeles for over 70 years,” says Mayor Villaraigosa. “At this world-class Observatory, Angelenos, young and old, can learn about the stars and planets, and begin to comprehend the limitless nature of the universe-truly symbolic of the limitless possibilities of this great City.”

I like him, since he likes public transport. So I don’t mind his brand of speechifying.

You know, I think I’ll leave it right there with the quotes. You can go and read the other stuff yourself at this link.

The things you should know if you want to go soon: You need to make reservations. There are links from the press release site, or here. The shuttle is over-priced, of course, at $8 for adults, and $4 for children over 4 and seniors 60 and over. It’s basically the standard extortionate “event parking fee” that most places in this city like to charge. On the plus side, maybe that will encourage people to simply take a bus to the neighbourhood and go for a walk in the park up to the observatory (although you still need to reserve a timeslot).

Enjoy.

-cvj

Don’t forget to check back for my report on the preview.