The Getty Villa’s Second Life

Early next month, the Los Angeles City Council will vote on plans to renovate the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, closed since 1997. The council will hear strong objections from nearby homeowners, who argue that planned activities at the Roman-style complex would generate extra traffic and noise. However, the Getty has already substantially scaled down its plans in response to the complaints. Council members should approve the compromise worked out in recent months by their colleague Cindy Miscikowski, who represents Pacific Palisades.

The Villa once housed the Getty’s entire collection, which has been moved to the new Getty Center in Brentwood. The long-planned Villa renovation, at an estimated cost of $150 million, was designed to showcase the Getty’s extraordinary collection of Greek and Roman antiquities. Imaginative plans developed over the past few years would do that splendidly.

In addition to the better display space, the Villa and adjacent buildings would house resident scholars, conservationists and curators, allowing the Getty to expand its work to comparative archeology and culture. The addition of an outdoor amphitheater of modest size would permit the staging of classical dramas, enhancing the appreciation of museum visitors for the objects viewed inside. Finally, the upgrade would provide more restrooms and make badly needed improvements to other visitor facilities.

The Villa’s neighbors, mostly owners of single-family homes in Pacific Palisades, fear that planned additional parking spaces would cause more traffic on the already congested Pacific Coast Highway. They also worry that noise from theater productions would disturb them.

The Villa staff has worked hard to mollify these neighbors, cutting the number of additional parking spaces envisioned in the plan, limiting the number of performances, agreeing to sound-level restrictions and improving traffic flow. As a condition of her support, Miscikowski has also insisted on further restrictions.

The project, already delayed by the local opposition, is slated to come before the council Dec. 15. It should be approved. The Villa is a cultural treasure, shuttered for too long. There should be no more delay in beginning the work that will reopen its doors.