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The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is getting a front porch: On Tuesday the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors -- through a virtual meeting -- unanimously approved plans for the museum's 75,000-square-foot renovation and addition and released $15 million toward the project, which includes a new entrance to the museum.
Supervisors also green-lighted an additional $15 million to come at a later date.
The vote, delayed several weeks, came as the county braces for what is expected to be a spike in coronavirus cases and a health crisis of historic proportions.
"We wouldn't proceed if we believed that it was imprudent," Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said in an email interview. Los Angeles County is "a major regional driver of the state's creative economy. The county is currently focused on the immediate challenges facing all Angelenos, so when we emerge from this current crisis, it will be more important than ever not to delay having a community hub like this to bring people together with nature and culture," he said.
The $60-million NHM Commons project also includes a new 400-seat theater and event space to replace the now-closed 1960 Jean Delacour Auditorium, a second cafe and outdoor gathering spaces. About 53,000 square feet of the project will...