Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/28575
Hollywood’s Enduring Superstar Observatory By Rena Dictor LeBlanc Griffith The tory, which has been a featured location in hundreds of movies and TV productions. It opened in 1935. Its motto is, “Inspir- ing the future, one imagination at a time.” Te observatory enables visitors from all over the world to O explore the universe with high quality astronomical and scien- tific information and programs. According to astronomer and author Dr. E. C. Krupp, who has been director of the Griffith Observatory since 1974, “Tere really is no place on earth quite like it. It’s the most visited observatory in the world.” More people have looked through its telescope than any telescope on the planet, he said. Te internationally recognizable icon of Los Angeles has approximately one million vis- itors including 50,000 school children annually. Te reason, he explained is “Location, location, lo- cation! Griffith observatory occupies the best piece of public observatory real estate in the world. It over- looks Hollywood. Now that’s perfect. You have this mythic realm that Hollywood creates around it.” Te Observatory is a national leader in public astronomy and one of the city’s most popular attractions, he pointed out. Our goal is primarily the same as it’s always been, which is to direct innovative program- ming to areas and events that capture the mind ne of Hollywood’s most enduring “superstars” has yet to win a coveted star emblazoned on Hollywood Boulevard. Tis “celebrity” is the Griffith Observa- 16 DISCOVER HOLLYWOOD / SPRING 2011