Academy Museum wins final L.A. City Council approval

The Academy Museum won final approval Wednesday morning from the Los Angeles City Council, whose 13-0 vote cleared the way for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to start construction on its $300-million project as early as this summer.

The museum, which the academy aims to open by the end of 2017, will be in the former May Co. department store at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Council approval came despite neighborhood opponents who worried about increased traffic, inadequate parking and late changes to the museum’s plans, including earlier film screenings and later operating hours for the museum cafe. Other critics have questioned the design of a domed cinema known as the Sphere, which will be built next to the existing building.

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