Natural History Museum of LA's existing campus could be history

Los Angeles's Natural History Museum has a bold plan to modernize its campus — but has no idea how much the revamp will cost or how to pay for it. The institution debuted renderings for a new building that would anchor the south and west sides of the Exposition Park facility.

The design features an airy, three-story glass pavilion crowned by a rooftop restaurant with views of downtown L.A., Baldwin Hills and the San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountains.

The 485,000-square-foot building will house a welcome center, a gallery for temporary exhibitions and an immersive theater for screenings, performances and other events.

A new entrance on the southwest corner provides direct access from Exposition Park’s South Lawn into NHM’s new immersive theater for performances and other events.

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Courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

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It will replace an auditorium that seats more than 300 people but isn't currently being used because it's hard to access, according to NHM president Lori Bettison-Varga.

She admits that museum officials don't know how much the upgrades will cost. They also don't know how the institution, which is a public-private partnership, will fund the upgrades.

That's the next step in the process. Bettison-Varga said she expects to have some figures and a funding proposal in the spring of 2018.

The goal of the proposed facelift is to increase the flexibility, capacity and transparency of the NHM's gallery space, she said — and, ultimately, to make it more welcoming.

"There's a certain lack of accessibility to these large facades that you see in museum spaces around the country, a formality to them that we know from research can be a bit of a barrier for people even thinking about going into those spaces," Bettison-Varga told KPCC.

The museum’s southwestern perimeter is re-envisioned as a welcoming “front porch” extending from Bill Robertson Lane to the existing South Entrance.

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Courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

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Designed by local architecture firm Frederick Fisher and Partners, the concept would transform the museum's single entry point into a long, porch-like entryway running along the southwestern perimeter. It would also add 60,000 square feet to the institution, giving staff a chance to show off more of the museum's vast collection of insects, minerals and other fascinating objects.

"While we are absolutely excited about our dinosaurs, we have a lot more in the building," Bettison-Varga said. "We wanted to use that space as a way to display the many objects and the kind of research and the kind of education and engagement that we do."

Lori Bettison-Varga, president of the Natural History Museum.

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Courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

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The new structure is part of an ambitious, decade-long project that will also re-envision the La Brea Tar Pits in the Miracle Mile area.

It comes on the heels of major upgrades to other areas of NHM's campus, overseen by Bettison-Varga's predecessor, Jane Pisano.

Those debuted in 2013. Since then, attendance has skyrocketed. Bettison-Varga suggests that's partly due to improved facilities.

A site map of the Natural History Museum's plans for renovation to the south and west areas of its Exposition Park campus.

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Courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

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In 2010, 486,000 people visited the museum. In 2016, that number had almost doubled — to 890,000 people per year.

The opening of the Exposition Line, with a stop right in front of the NHM, has likely also helped attendance.

Bettison-Varga, formerly the president of Scripps College and a geology professor, has been at the museum since 2015.