LACMA vote is set for Tuesday as county supervisors consider revised museum design

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will hold a critical vote Tuesday on whether to certify the recently released final environmental impact report for a new Los Angeles County Museum of Art building, thereby issuing $117.5 million in county funds toward the $650-million project.

Supervisors also will vote on whether to approve the proposed Peter Zumthor design and to authorize the demolition of four county-owned buildings on LACMA’s campus.

LACMA’s EIR, released on March 22, presented design tweaks for the Zumthor building that would reduce its size by 10% compared with designs announced in October 2017.

Members of the public will be allowed to deliver short statements to the five supervisors at the meeting.

The county previously gave LACMA $7.5 million for pre-construction costs in 2015, bringing its total potential contribution to $125 million. If the Tuesday vote is in LACMA’s favor, the county expects funds to be dispersed by June 30.

The Tuesday meeting also will include an agenda item regarding the Southwest Museum in Mount Washington.

This month the Autry Museum of the American West — which owns the Southwest Museum and has been conserving and housing its collection of American Indian artifacts over the last decade and a half — put out a call for proposals for the “revitalization and creative reuse” of the property. The Autry said it was looking to transfer ownership of the historic but complex 1914 site, preferably to a new owner who would update and reimagine L.A.’s oldest museum for “community benefit.”

A representative from Supervisor Hilda L. Solis’ office said she will offer a motion Tuesday that Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority evaluate the possibility of acquiring the Southwest Museum.