The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens Thursday announced a $7.5 million plan to renovate and expand its Rose Garden Tea Room, restoring the front of the original 1911 building while creating a new outdoor dining location and improving its service areas.

The project involves upgrading the indoor dining space, modernizing the kitchen, developing new restrooms and ancillary areas, and creating a pavilion on its eastern side, opening onto the Shakespeare Garden for exterior dining service, according to library officials.

On the west side of the building, the room that opens out to the Herb Garden will also be renovated and made available for private rentals, in addition to being used for the Tea Room’s general service.

The project goes into municipal review this month, with hopes of breaking ground later in the year. The Huntington expects to complete the project in 2022. Most of the funding has been secured.

“We’re extremely excited to be launching this important project,” said Huntington President Karen R. Lawrence. “This renovation comes on the heels of our centennial and celebrates one of our most beloved historic structures, acknowledging what has been one of the area’s most iconic dining destinations since it opened to the public many decades ago.”

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