The famous Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles is shutting down its telescopes and closing its doors Sunday to begin a nearly three-year renovation and expansion that will include an underground theater named after Leonard Nimoy.

The Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon theater will be a 200-seat proscenium arch-style presentation room to accommodate events outside the main planetarium shows, such as special lectures, media events, and auxiliary presentations for school groups. The subterranean Nimoy theater will be located underneath the front lawn of the Observatory grounds. Most of the facility's expansion will take place underground within the granite mountain it sits on, so that the 66-year-old landmark will look exactly the same from the outside except for a fresh coat of paint and newly burnished copper domes.

Last March the actor-director and his wife Susan donated $1 million toward the expansion effort. "By observing the sky and pondering our place in the universe, people gain a new perspective on their daily lives," Nimoy said. "Griffith Observatory gives its visitors that opportunity. It is a Los Angeles icon, one which we need to ensure will be here for generations to come." Nimoy, of course, played Spock in the Original Series and the first six Star Trek films, and also directed "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" and "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home."

Overlooking the city from the hills of Griffith Park under the famous Hollywood sign, the art deco Observatory is a popular location in films and TV shows, including Star Trek: Voyager. It was the setting for Rain Robinson's SETI lab in "Future's End, Part I," and its front lawn was where Tom Paris and Tuvok had a phaser fight with one of Henry Starling's henchmen in 1996. The facility's most famous appearance was in 1955's "Rebel Without a Cause" starring James Dean, and was also seen in "The Terminator" near the beginning when Arnold Schwarzenegger went looking for clothes.

The re-opening of the Observatory is planned for late 2004. More information can be found at the links below.