Colonel Griffith looked through a telescope on Mt. Wilson and was so impressed by what he saw that he declared, “If all mankind could look through that telescope it would revolutionize the world.”  He offered the City $100,000 to build a public observatory on Griffith Park’s highest peak, Mt. Hollywood. That location was abandoned because Vermont Canyon Road would have to be extended to the top of Mt. Hollywood and there was no space to park cars at the top. Engineers, trustees, the Board of Park Commissioners, and Griffith’s son, Van Griffith, all agreed that the Observatory should be moved down the hill.

The initial sketches for the Observatory were drawn by Russell W. Porter in 1931. John C. Austin and Frederick M. Ashley, architects, designed the building to withstand earthquakes.

 

The Observatory was designed in the classically-inspired PWA Moderne style with a Beaux Arts entrance. Construction did not begin until 1933, 14 years after Griffith’s death. Its three domes were sheathed in copper giving inspiration for its nickname, Los Angeles’ hood ornament.

 

Features of the building include:  1) Astronomers Monument was federally funded to give work to the six artists who who sculpted the six astronomers. 2) Hugo Ballin Murals in the rotunda, commissioned by the Griffith Trust, represents various branches of sciences. The ceiling has signs of the zodiac and Greek gods. 3) Zeiss 12-inch refractor telescope used by the public for free; more people have looked through that telescope than any other in the world. 4) Foucault pendulum in the rotunda demonstrates the rotation of the earth. 5) Planetarium with a Zeiss projector. Such technology did not exist before Griffith’s death but the architects knew he would want the latest technology. During World War II the planetarium was used to train military pilots in celestial navigation. The projector was updated in 1964 and again in 2006.

 

The Observatory is one of the most significant visual icons of the City and was restored and discreetly expanded underground in 2006 preserving its beloved design.  (Source:  Mike Eberts, Griffith Park: A Centennial History)