Page Museum, LACMA officials take design concerns to county leaders

Leaders of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and its smaller neighbor, the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits, spoke before the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday as part of an effort to address concerns that LACMA’s plans to redesign its campus will adversely affect the Page.

L.A. Now reports that Jane Pisano, director the Natural History Museum of L.A. County, which oversees the Page Museum, told supervisors that LACMA’s current plans would “severely impact” six of the nine tar pits in the park, and a proposed cantilevered overhang would shadow the lake pit.

LACMA director Michael Govan told supervisors that “we can guarantee there will not be a significant impact on the La Brea Tar Pits as we develop a plan” and that the three museums intend to sign a memorandum of understanding about the matter.

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The debate focuses on Swiss architect Peter Zumthor’s proposed designs for the new LACMA campus, which would consolidate buildings in a major redesign that will cost an estimated $650 million and isn’t expected to be completed for at least a decade.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said that despite some initial concerns, he has become a fan of the architectural proposal.

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