Save Griffith Park

Save Griffith Park is closely monitoring the ongoing development of a new Griffith Park Master Plan, but it is also keeping an eye on escalating attempts to commercialize the Park that are taking place now through the shocking manipulation of its concession contracts.

On October 18th, determined Griffith Park advocates turned back a particularly troubling abuse, causing Wolfgang Puck Catering Inc to withdraw its controversial application for a double zoning variance that would have paved the way for a liquor license at Griffith Observatory. Puck Catering, the Observatory's food concessionaire, insisted that it needed the license to achieve its stated goal of turning the public-owned facility into L.A.'s "premiere special event destination" marketed to a national and international audience. Hand-in-hand with the license would have come the building's and grounds' unlimited use for private galas and parties, and the at-will eviction of everyday visitors from the museum Colonel Griffith had given them.

In a disturbing case of concession inflation, Puck, and the City officials in thrall to them, worked behind the scenes to convert what Park advocates were told was a simple contract for a pleasant, affordable food facility into a permission slip to operate a lucrative, private banquet facility in the sky. To ensure securing the license, attorneys for the $300 million food company even wrote language into the concession contract that required the Recreation and Parks Department to support its liquor application, i.e, to renege on its previous statements to park-goers on the nature and scope of the food concession, and to oppose the public interest as well – and the City accepted this clause!

Do not for a moment think that the lack of a liquor license at the Observatory means total prohibition. Puck Catering's own permit allows it to serve alcohol at approximately 26 events a year and Puck's party-giving clients with permits will be able to transfer their licenses to the hill on a one-time basis. Nevertheless, the lack of a liquor license at the Observatory itself will diminish Puck's impact on the Park and its users. And, dare we hope, the annual 26 alcohol-serving events it can cater will include a higher percentage of events that directly support the Observatory and its mission.

The devil, of course, is in the details. The community has made it clear that any private events that use the Observatory's public spaces, indoors and out, must take place when the museum is closed normally to the public. Concerns linger about alcohol being served at the top of the winding roads leading to and from the landmark, and park-users in general are troubled by the light and noise pollution that will be generated by such events and the cumulative environmental impact of such a commercial use on the Park's flora, fauna and future.

Nonetheless, for the time being, this threat to Griffith Park's zoning classification – Open Space – and the principle that the Observatory is a public astronomy museum owned by us for the purpose of free education has gone into remission. This positive outcome is the result of hard and unified work by a coalition of the community and park users including, but not limited to area neighborhood councils, residents associations, recreationists and the Sierra Club. Congratulations to them!