natural history museum of los angeles county

$13 Million Gift Means New Pavillion For Natural History Museum In Los Angeles

Filed under: Charity, Big Givers, Architecture & Design

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County will have a dramatic new glass entrance pavilion thanks to a $13 million gift from the Otis Booth Foundation. The gift is the largest made to date by the Los Angeles-based private foundation and the largest private gift dedicated to the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park in its nearly century-long history. The foundation is a legacy of Franklin Otis Booth, Jr. (1923-2008), the great- grandson of General Harrison Gray Otis, founder of the Los Angeles Times.

The Otis Booth Pavilion will feature a 63-foot fin whale specimen that was first exhibited at the museum back in 1944. The 7,000-pound specimen was re-articulated to give the whale the appearance of a whale in the midst of a dive. The light-filled, three-story entrance will be connected to Exposition Boulevard by a pedestrian bridge. It was designed for the museum by CO Architects in association with Cordell Corporation. The Otis Booth Pavilion is scheduled for completion by November 2013, in time for the celebration of the Natural History Museum's 100th anniversary. The museum is in the middle of a six-year renovation that also includes the opening of the new Age of Mammals experience and exhibitions inside the Haaga Family Rotunda, the new Dinosaur Hall and a new exhibition exploring the natural and cultural history of Los Angeles and Southern California. The Museum's $135 million NHM Next Campaign has raised $84 million to date. The Otis Booth Foundation donation was made outside of the current campaign.

[via the LA Times]

Tags: los angeles, los angeles museums, natural history museum, natural history museum of los angeles county