“We are now ready to take you to the Princeton Observatory at Princeton where Carl Phillips, our commentator, will interview Professor Richard Pierson, famous astronomer. We take you now to Princeton, New Jersey.” — War of the Worlds, October 30, 1938.
A piece of Orson Welles-related history will soon be lost to history,
The observatory, where Welles’ “Professor Richard Pierson” worked in the War of the Worlds radio broadcast of 1938 will be demolished to make way for a new soccer stadium, our friend, A Brad Schwartz, author of Broadcast Hysteria, tells us.
Schwartz, a graduate student at Princeton, co-wrote an episode of the PBS series American Experience recalling the Mercury Theatre on the Air broadcast. He visited the observatory a year ago and Robert Humme posted a video of an interview with him there on YouTube.
The FitzRandolph Observatory on the university campus was commissioned in 1932 and opened two years later.
Princeton Municipal Planner Michael LaPlace had asked university officials early this year to consider saving the building. He wondered if it could be preserved for adaptive reuse and moved elsewhere.
The university conducted a feasibility study and determined that the building is not worth preserving.
“It’s difficult to move based on the condition of the structure,” LaPlace told the Princeton Planning Board earlier this month. “Needless to say, I was disappointed with the conclusion. The university is now awaiting approval for demolition.”
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