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Orange County’s “Great Park”

Los Angeles often comes under criticism because it doesn’t have enough parks or green space within the city. Sure, there are mountains nearby and the beach is always available. The city does have the one of the largest parks within city limits in Griffith Park, but the average person in Los Angeles does not have a park within walking distance. There’s nowhere to just take the dog for a walk or go for a quick run.

Nowhere is this problem more pronounced than in Orange County, where traffic locks up and strip mall parking lots are the closest thing to open space that the city has.

Orange County is trying to correct for that problem in one large, ambitious bout of overcompensation. The “Great Park” under development aims to provide the residents of Orange County with one massive mega park, where all their park needs will be met at one central location.

Built over the top of El Toro military base, the Great Park is going to be 1,347 acres of recreation opportunities and open space, baseball diamonds and soccer fields as well as cultural centers, interpretive experiences and nature hikes through three miles of canyon.

The park will also feature a museum presenting the history of El Toro base as well as some of the military aircraft that flew from the airfield. The Great Park will stretch from the beach to the mountains and will be larger than New York City’s Central Park and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park put together.

Unfortunately, a construction project of this size takes years to complete and the park will not be ready for general use for quite some time. For the moment, the only open attraction in the park is a balloon ride which takes visitors up and over the park to see the the progress being made on the construction. The ride also incorporates views of the mountains and the surrounding county. The ride is free, but visitors must obtain a boarding pass when entering the park.

Overlooking the city from the hills of Los Angeles, the recently restored and renovated Griffith Observatory is now a museum sparking curiosity in kids and adults. Built in 1935 as part of the bequest of landowner Griffith J. Griffith, the Observatory is no longer on the cutting edge of research, nor do scientists spend much time peering through the telescopes at distant planets or stars. Now that Los Angeles’ lights have dimmed the stars brightness and commuter smog has made it more difficult to see out of the atmosphere, the best thing to observe from Griffith Observatory, is the city.

Griffith Observatory, on the south side of Griffith Park, overlooks Hollywood and downtown and on a clear day the view extends all the way to Santa Monica and the ocean. To the north, the Hollywood sign stands prominently in view. Griffith Observatory is about as close as you’ll get without driving to the base of the sign.

In 2002 the Observatory closed and underwent a $93 million dollar renovation. Exhibits now provide a look at broad aspects of space science on a universal as well as local level. The “Big Picture,” the largest image of space ever displayed, takes up one entire wall, while each planet in the galaxy has its own booth with facts on that planet and a scale displaying what you would weigh under that planet’s gravity.

There is also a collection of meteorites found in California on display as well as a three-dimensional, detailed, rotating model of the moon.

More than a museum, Griffith Observatory has become a landmark and symbol of the past for Los Angeles. James Dean appears in front of the Observatory in several scenes of “Rebel Without a Cause,” and a bust of the actor was placed outside of the museum. The museum is still a popular filming location.

Since the reopening of the Observatory, visitors have had to make reservations for a shuttle to take them up to the main area. That requirement ended November 2, and you can now drive up to the main parking lot and tour the building for free. Enter on Vermont Avenue and follow the signs after passing the Greek Theater. Tours of the exhibits take about two hours, more if you want to see shows in the Planetarium or Event Horizon Theater. Tickets to both of those theaters are an extra charge.

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