La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles Closes for $240 Million Upgrade

An overhaul of the La Brea Tar  Pits and Page Museum is officially moving forward, marking one of Los Angeles’ most significant cultural redevelopment projects in years.

The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County announced that the Mid‑Wilshire tourist attraction will close for two years beginning July 6 to begin the first phase of a $240 million renovation, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, chaired by Kathryn Barger, approved the project at 5801 Wilshire Boulevard in February 2025.

Designed by Weiss/Manfredi, the masterplan calls for a comprehensive transformation of the 13‑acre site. Phase one will renovate and expand the existing Page Museum and reshape surrounding berms to create new outdoor gathering spaces, as well as upgrade signage, lighting, landscaping and furniture. Later phases will add new entrance pavilions, walkways, a parking lot and a research building. Construction will extend through 2032.

Work on the initial phase is expected to start before year‑end and finish by mid‑2028, positioning the Tar Pits for a public reopening that integrates science, education and open space.

The project will continue a series of investments along Museum Row, where next door Los Angeles Country Museum of Art’s David Geffen Galleries, a Peter Zumthor‑designed structure spanning Wilshire Boulevard, is set to open next door as part of a $720 million upgrade. Private projects include converting a former 99 Cents Only location into apartments, the Marks family’s Mirabel Wilshire Boulevard project with a proposed 348 units and the CGI+ project at 639 South La Brea Avenue with 121 units and a 125-room hotel.

The Tar Pits sit across the street from Park La Brea, the largest apartment complex in California. Three years ago, Prime Residential, the owner of the complex, refinanced it for $947 million. The complex originally comprised 31 two-story buildings with 2,600 apartments – but in 1950, additional buildings each with 13 stories came on line, yielding a total unit count of 4,600.

– Joel Russell