Dear fellow LACMA Lover,

Thank you for joining more than 4175 concerned citizens who have signed the petition urging the Los Angeles County Supervisors to reconsider their approval of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for LACMA's redevelopment plan.

Things have been quiet on the cleared parcels on Wilshire that are supposed to be home to new LACMA galleries, with the planned construction stalled and no word on when it might resume.

But the scrappy non-profit Save LACMA has been busy, working on the ballot measure that will ensure more public oversight of our County museum, and a ban on selling off the collection to finance imprudent building projects.

As part of Save LACMA’s commitment to helping the museum, it has developed strong community partnerships that allowed it to bring a remarkable offer to LACMA CEO and museum director Michael Govan.

Let us link to the newsletter announcement and quote Board Chair Rob Hollman:

“Save LACMA presented to LACMA's director Michael Govan several months ago the opportunity for LACMA to access $1.35billion in leaseback financing. 

One billion dollars would go towards a proper build, without any value engineering, of the Zumthor addition.  This would also enable the ability to include all of the elements, including additional square footage if possible, we are all expecting when construction is completed. 

Three hundred and fifty million to acquire 5900 Wilshire, the high rise office building directly across from the LACMA campus where LACMA already has its administrative offices and where it could add more office, storage and even retail space while generating revenue from other tenants.

The lease could be paid for by what LA County already gives to LACMA annually, approximately $37million, and LACMA, and the County, would own the new building and the high rise outright after all lease payments were made. 

In this scenario, LACMA can actually help Save LACMA while Save LACMA continues to try to help LACMA.

When we had a conference call with Michael last September, he told us that LACMA's Board graciously declined our offer.  Being that costs are mounting, we have made the offer once more and have yet to receive a response.”

Will Michael Govan accept this generous bailout plan to ensure our precious community museum thrives with sufficient space for exhibitions and backstage activities and an income property to support programming? Stay tuned to the Save LACMA newsletter to find out!

Please keep sharing the petition link (http://chng.it/PBQw6hhzdX) with your friends who love LACMA and want it to remain at the heart of our city's culture and community. And stay tuned for updates as we have them.

Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim Cooper & Richard Schave
The LACMA Lovers League