Griffith Observatory: Face Lift or Slap In the Face?

Don't know about the rest of you but the Griffith Observatory has been a trusted fortress over the years -- a place to retreat when feeling like taking a break from the gridlocked streets below; a place to take first time visitors to L.A. for a spectacular panoramic view of the city from the valley to downtown and out into the ocean; a place to make out like crazy teenagers with a date no matter your age; a place to obsessively stare out wondering where in the hell your mate is on that star glittered night; or a place to reenact the famous knife fight scene from 'Rebel Without A Cause' -- come on Angelenos...you have to know what I'm talking about.

I can't tell you how many times I came upon a spontaneous impulse to make a sharp turn up Vermont from Hollywood or Sunset for a visit to the Griffith Observatory. Most of the time it was to clear my head of some dumb situation I was in or it was to get my son out of the house on and off the sofa on a Friday night. Part of the beauty of making that spur of the moment call was knowing that I'd most likely be shit out of luck in finding a parking space. It was all part of the experience and made the visit that much more rewarding when you actually did find a spot to park and took the barely lit stroll over to the monumental domed building alongside the others -- the others who flocked for whatever reason their own. Didn't matter if they were there for checking out the Tesla Coil or waiting in line for a shot at peering through the massive telescope to view Jupiter or whatever planet its site was focused on at the time you felt a camaraderie with these folks because you knew they understood how special this place was and how it belonged to us...no matter where you came from or if your car barely had the punch to make it up the hills.

That is until now. Leave it to Los Angeles to go and blow the beauty of having such an easily accessible place for it's residents. With the long awaited reopening of the Griffith Observatory comes the news that all visitors will need to make reservations in advance and will be expected to board a shuttle at 8 bucks a pop for adults and 4 for kids. I'm not only appalled, disgusted, and angry, I'm disappointed. By initiating this rule the city of Los Angeles has again taken something once available to all and turned it into something accessible to the few who are able to dish out the dough for a spot on the shuttle. No more teaching your children about the stars for families on a budget. As far as I'm concerned the 5-year clean up did nothing more than leave a much greater tarnish on the Griffith Observatory than it had naturally built up since its initial opening in 1935.