Universal Studios Hollywood (Hollywood) — “Transformers," the electrifying blockbuster celebrated for its multi-generational appeal, inventive storyline, spectacular action sequences and special effects, will be developed as a new theme park mega-attraction in a partnership among Universal Parks & Resorts, Hasbro Inc. and DreamWorks Pictures. The attraction, coming to Universal Studios Hollywood in spring 2012, will fuse 3D-HD media, mega special effects and stunning robotics with a ride system that will transform perceptions of theme park experiences. www.universalstudioshollywood.com
USS Iowa (Coastal) — The US Navy announced in September 2011 that the Port of Los Angeles will become the new home of the USS Iowa, a renowned World War II battleship. The ship will be docked at the San Pedro Waterfront, where the nonprofit Pacific Battleship Center plans to turn it into a permanent museum and memorial. Although plans are still undergoing environmental review, news reports said the ship will be towed to Los Angeles between December and January and could be open to the public by the summer of 2012. www.portoflosangeles.org
Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens (Downtown) – LAIR, Living Amphibians, Invertebrates and Reptiles exhibit is slated to open in early 2012 with magnificent new homes for the Zoo’s outstanding reptile collection, one of the rarest among North American zoos. Species slated to be featured in the new conservation facility include Chinese giant salamanders, crocodiles, venomous snakes, scorpions, rare tortoises, poison dart frogs and much more. www.lazoo.org.
California Science Center (Downtown) – NASA has announced that the space shuttle Endeavour will retire to the admission-free California Science Center (CSC). It is expected to arrive in September 2012 and be on display in a temporary structure while a permanent home is built. Endeavour first flew in May 1992. www.californiasciencecenter.org
Natural History Museum (Downtown) – The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM), located in Exposition Park, is currently undergoing a seven-year, $135 million renovation. 2012 will bring the opening of a permanent exhibit focusing on environmental and cultural history in Southern California, including items from missions and an early oil pump. Over the course of 2012 and 2013, 3.5 acres of outdoor space will open. Called the North Campus, it will include an urban wilderness garden designed to attract birds, bees and bugs, plus a pond for native and non-native turtles, a vegetable garden and a 1913-style garden. www.nhm.org
Italian American Museum of Los Angeles (Downtown) – The only museum in Southern California dedicated to the Italian-American experience is being built in the historic Italian Hall adjacent to Olvera Street. The interactive museum will document the history and continuing contributions of Italian Americans and highlight the once-vibrant Italian community in early Los Angeles with historical photographs and memorabilia, plus an oral history and research archive. www.italianhall.org
Malamut Vintage Auto Center (San Fernando Valley) — The Calabasas City Council has approved preliminary plans by car collector Michael Malamut for a 21,000-square-foot auto emporium whose centerpiece will be a showroom of mostly classic European cars from the 1940s, '50s and '60s. The Malamut Vintage Auto Center will include a cafe, gift shop, community rooms and an auto detail and repair center. www.malamutautomuseum.com
The New Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX (LAX) – This $1.5 billion project will provide greater capacity to the Tom Bradley International Terminal’s west side with a total of 18 new gates, nine of which will comfortably accommodate passenger loads for new generation aircraft and a great hall for premier dining and retail shopping. It is considered to be the largest public works project in the history of the City of Los Angeles and it will create 40,000 construction related jobs over the course of the four-year project schedule. Phase 1 west side gates and great hall completion is scheduled for 2012. www.lawa.org
Terminal 6 Renovation at LAX (LAX) – This $271-million renovation/ modernization project will increase lobby space, replace traditional ticketing counters with new check-in kiosks, bag-check stations, and a behind-the-scenes in-line baggage handling system. Additional security screening checkpoints will be added to facilitate quicker screening, and the number of gates will be increased. Alaska Airlines will also make improvements to its branding and décor as well as its club lounge. Completion is scheduled for summer of 2012. www.lawa.org
Civic Park (Downtown) — A 16-acre park unifying the landmark institutions in Los Angeles' Civic Center area will stretch down Bunker Hill from the Music Center to City Hall, passing between the county-owned buildings on Temple and First streets to the steps of City Hall. The $56 million project is expected to be completed in summer 2012. www.grandavenuecommittee.org
El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument’s “America Tropical” Mural (Downtown) – Painted in 1932 by David Alfaro Siqueiros on the second-story wall of Italian Hall on Olvera Street, “America Tropical” is an aesthetic and political mural that was “whitewashed” within a year of being completed. America Tropical is one of only three murals painted by Siqueiros. Completion is expected March 2012. “America Tropical” will be open for public viewing. www.getty.edu/conservation/field_projects/siqueiros/index.html
Metro Orange Line Extension (San Fernando Valley) — In June 2009, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority broke ground on a four-mile extension of the highly successful Metro Orange Line. The Metro Orange Line Extension will extend four miles north from the Canoga Station to the Chatsworth Metrolink Station. This dedicated busway will offer improvements to north-south mobility in the western San Fernando Valley by connecting activity centers along the corridor and connecting the Metro Orange Line with Metrolink. The busway extension is projected to open in mid-2012. www.metro.net
Pacific Standard Time — From October 2011 through April 1, 2012 the international spotlight shines on Los Angeles as more than 60 Southern California cultural institutions come together to present Pacific Standard Time, a festival of exhibitions and performances highlighting Southern California’s contribution to American postwar art and design. An initiative of the Getty with arts institutions across the Southland, Pacific Standard Time celebrates the birth of the LA art scene and the iconic artists, who shaped many of today’s most vital trends nationally and internationally.
Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens (Downtown) – The L.A. Zoo has a new project on the drawing board: Rain Forest of the Americas, which will feature species native to Central and South America. The hillside exhibit will be located near the current aviaries and will provide an immersion experience in the rain forest habitat. The opening is planned for 2013. www.lazoo.org
The Broad (Downtown) — Architectural designs were unveiled in January 2011 for the Broad, the Broad Art Foundation’s new contemporary art museum in Downtown LA to display Eli and Edythe Broad’s extensive collection of contemporary art. The 120,000-square-foot museum was designed by the architects Diller Scofido + Renfro and is expected to cost $100 million. The museum is located across the street from Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Completion is expected in spring 2013. www.broadartfoundation.com/
Autry National Center (Downtown) — The Autry National Center has announced plans for a $75 million, seven-year construction project to add 25,000 square feet to its facility in Griffith Park. The new exhibit space will offer a showcase for the Autry’s collections of artifacts of the American West. www.theautry.org
The Watts Towers (Downtown) — The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is the new conservator of a beloved cultural landmark, the Watts Towers. A $500,000 grant from the James Irvine Foundation was received in February 2011 to help fund LACMA’s analysis and conservation of the complex of openwork steel towers encrusted with sparkling mosaics. www.wattstowers.org
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (Hollywood) – The much-anticipated Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (AMMP) is heading to the historic May Co. department store building at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, currently known as LACMA West. The museum expects to feature both permanent and rotating exhibits in the facility’s 300,000 square feet. The new museum may open as early as 2014. www.moviemuseum.org
Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension (Citywide) – The Metro Gold Line, which provides rail transportation from Downtown to East Los Angeles and also to Pasadena, will be extended farther east. The Foothill Extension Phase 2A is an 11.5-mile extension with six stations in the cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale, and Azusa. Ground was broken in June 2010, and completion is scheduled for 2014. Phase 2B will take the Gold Line to Montclair, and Phase 2C to Ontario by approximately 2021. www.metro.net
Los Angeles River Revitalization (Citywide) – An 18-month revitalization planning process was completed in May 2007 and a 20-year blueprint was created for development and management of the Los Angeles River, which was approved for implementation by the Los Angeles City Council. The plan calls for replacing much of the industrial land along the river with parks, housing and a natural environment, while retaining the river’s flood-control function. The Los Angeles River has a compelling history and flows 51 miles through some of Southern California’s most diverse communities. www.lariver.org
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Director, Communications
phn:213/236-2397, fax 213/452-1407
bbrett@lainc.us
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