Beverly Press Park Labrea News: groundbreaking marks start of transformation at La Brea Tar Pits

The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County held a groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 29 for the La Brea Tar Pits reimaging project, which is transforming the 13-acre campus on Wilshire Boulevard’s Museum Row.

The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County is spearheading the project and announced that it has raised more than $155 million toward the $240 million capital campaign. The project is scheduled to be completed prior to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Work has already started on the park space around the tar pits and museum building.

State, county and city leaders joined philanthropists and representatives from the Natural History Museum at the groundbreaking ceremony. They included Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga, president and director of NHM;  U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Burbank); California Natural Resources Agency Deputy Secretary Madeline Drake; Megan McGowan Epstein, president of the NHM Board of Trustees; Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, 2nd District; and philanthropist Lynda Oschin, president of the Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Oschin Family Foundation.

“Today marks an exciting milestone for La Brea Tar Pits and for everyone who believes in the impact of this place, one of the most important geological sites on Earth for learning about the connections between climate change and the natural world,” Bettison-Varga said. “For generations, La Brea Tar Pits has invited people to discover stories that deepen our understanding of the past. This transformation is possible because of a remarkable community of public and private partners, led by the Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Oschin Family Foundation, who share our belief that the science happening here should be protected, advanced and experienced by people from Los Angeles and around the world.”

“Science has the power to connect past, present and future in ways that are deeply relevant to the challenges we face today,” Lynda Oschin said. “The Samuel Oschin Global Center for Ice Age Research at La Brea Tar Pits represents a commitment to rigorous research, public learning and global collaboration grounded in Los Angeles, but meaningful on a global scale.”

Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, 2nd District, said the project will open doors to new discoveries.

“As we endure the effects of a changing planet, there has seldom been a more important time to expand opportunities to discover our natural world. By transforming the La Brea Tar Pits into a transparent, community-centered space, we are creating accessible, world-class educational facilities that bring Angelenos into the scientific process and inspire future scientists and civic leaders,” Mitchell said.

“There is nothing more unique and special than the Tar Pits,” Friedman said. “When I was here recently and saw the exhibits and how they tie the mass extinctions that we saw many hundreds of thousands of years ago during the last era of climate change to what is potentially our future, it made me realize again how important this place is as a warning to the countless visitors who come here, and it is a lesson for all of us about taking care of this Earth, about what happens to this planet, about our place in it as animals and human beings as part of an ecology. There really couldn’t have been a better time than right now for this museum to go through these renovations. It is such an important and special place.”

The La Brea Tar Pits Museum and portions of the park have closed for construction until 2028. However, many areas of Hancock Park and the Tar Pits’ active outdoor excavation sites remain open to the public. For information, visit tarpits.org.