Visitors were being reminded Tuesday that this week will be the public’s final opportunity to visit the La Brea Tar Pits museum before it closes July 7 for a two-year renovation.
The museum will remain open through Sunday during regular hours, except for Independence Day, when it will be closed. Officials urged visitors to make reservations, saying large crowds are expected through the final weekend.
The reminder came after the museum hosted its “Last Dance at La Brea Tar Pits” farewell party Saturday, a 1970s-themed celebration marking the end of an era before construction begins.
The George C. Page Museum will undergo what officials describe as the most extensive renovation in its nearly 50-year history. The project will modernize the facility with new exhibition galleries, visible research laboratories, expanded collections storage, a theater and a rooftop terrace overlooking the tar pits and surrounding park.
The renovation also will preserve the museum’s historic atrium and iconic exterior while improving accessibility during the building, officials said. Plans also call for construction of the Samuel Oschin Global Center for Ice Age Research, bringing fossil preparation and scientific research into public view.
Although the museum building will close, the surrounding park will remain open throughout the approximately two-year project. Paleontologists and researchers will continue excavating fossils, caring for the collection and conducting scientific research, while educational programs, behind-the-scenes tours, presentations and visits by the La Brea Tar Pits Mobile Museum also will continue, officials said.
Museum officials expect the reimagined campus, including the new Samuel Oschin Global Center for Ice Age Research, to reopen in 2028 ahead of the Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games.