• La Brea Tar Pits is the world’s greatest Ice Age fossil location—a 13-acre site including the museum at La Brea Tar Pits and surrounding Hancock Park.
• Part of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, La Brea Tar Pits are the only active paleontological site in an urban location in the world.
• 50,000 years ago, mammoths, dire wolves, saber-toothed cats and mastodons roamed Los Angeles. We know this because of La Brea Tar Pits.
• More than 5 million fossils have been unearthed from this active site—600+ species of animals, plants, and insects trapped in sticky “tar,” actually asphalt, which preserved them so they could be studied today.
• The findings at La Brea Tar Pits are so significant that the time period is designated the Rancholabrean Land Mammal Age.
• Holding evidence of the impact of climate change over millennia, new discoveries are made daily at La Brea Tar Pits.

• La Brea Tar Pits is like no other place on Earth,combining insights about both nature and humanity.
• In a world of immense challenges and possibilities, the message of this place is that every living thing is connected and that our past informs our present. The reimagined La Brea Tar Pits will make that real like nowhere else.
• No other site rivals La Brea Tar Pits in scale and importance for understanding ecosystem evolution during a major period of climatic change.
• Through La Brea Tar Pits, we have the power to better understand vital questions and answers about our collective future.
• The site also offers a unique advantage in terms of equity—unlike other world wonders, La Brea Tar Pits are right in the heart of Los Angeles, accessible to all. Admission is affordable, with special opportunities for free admission available to locals, students, U.S. service members, and others.

• La Brea Tar Pits is a designated geoheritage site by the International Union of Geological Sciences and UNESCO and is a National Natural Landmark in one of the most culturally influential places on Earth—Los Angeles County. However, the true potential of this site has never been tapped.
• The Museum’s facilities have only been minorly updated since the 1970s. They do not address today’s needs for scientific research. Scholars come from all over the world to study the La Brea Tar Pits collection.
• Inadequate facilities hamper our ability to protect and share with the world the collections and resources we steward.
• Modernizing the site for the first time in 50 years will enable this wonder in the heart of Los Angeles to realize its potential as a world-class research center, through the Samuel Oschin Global Center for Ice Age Research, unique educational experience, and iconic Los Angeles travel destination.
• Through this reimagining, we will create one of the most consequential cultural and scientific sites in the world.

• The world-renowned architectural and design firm of Weiss/Manfredi was chosen through a global competition with major community input. Known for placing environmental stewardship and sustainability at the core of their work, Weiss/Manfredi projects include the Seattle Museum of Art’s Olympic Sculpture Park, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center, and the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. The firm was recently selected to help redesign the Amsterdam Avenue side of the Lincoln Center Campus in New York City.
• In addition, Kossmanndejong (KDJ), based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is leading the design of exhibition spaces and developing visitor experiences. Award-winning KDJ is well known for creating three-dimensional narratives for institutions around the world.

In addition, Los Angeles-based Gruen Associates is supporting Weiss/Manfredi as the Executive Architect.

New assets and amenities include: 

• Half a kilometer of park pathways
• Accessible rooftop terrace and promenade
• Transformed research facilities
• Dynamic workspaces for resident and visiting scientists
• One new theater space
• Accessible retail store
• Upgraded multi-use courtyard, pavilion, and event spaces
• Two new indoor classrooms
• A new outdoor education grove
• 13 acres with a net gain of 80 new trees

• Expand opportunities for powerful and immersive education and youth programming | MORE >
• Promote community access and investment | MORE >

• Proposed funding sources include County, State, and Federal funding. Additional funding will come from private philanthropy, including individuals, foundations, and corporations.
• This project has a unique ability to appeal to a wide range of donors, including those interested in education and creating new generations of scientists;  science and/or planetary health; expanding green spaces; L.A. heritage and creating best practice models of renewing cultural icons; as well as those looking for global visibility.

• We broke ground in Fall 2026. Reopening of the full campus, including the museum at La Brea Tar Pits, is anticipated for 2028 in advance of the Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games.

• The cost of the project is $240 million.

To date, more than $148 million* has been raised—61%

• Transformational gift from the Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Oschin Family Foundation
• $28 million+ from NHMLAC Board of Trustees and Governors
• $22 million in a lead gift from L.A. County
• $20 million from the State of California

(*as of September 14, 2026) 

• NHMLAC Board of Trustees and Governors passed a resolution to move forward with the Reimagining La BreaTar Pits campaign in March 2024
• Over $28 million raised so far from 38 trustees and governors, including confirmed, verbal, and contingent pledges.