Getty Center to Close a Year for First Renovation in Three Decades
Los Angeles landmark will close for a year for upgrades.
Plans are underway for the first comprehensive renovation of the Getty Center’s Los Angeles campus in its 30-year history. The update, which officials call the most significant series of modernization initiatives since the center opened in 1997, will close the facilities for about one year beginning March 15, 2027. The Center says the renovation price tag is between $600 million and $800 million.
The J. Paul Getty Trust, which oversees the Center, has not yet named an architectural team or contractors to refresh the Richard Meier-designed facility, but expects the updates to be completed with a reopening in the spring of 2028, just ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games.
Some improvements have already begun in at least two of the Getty’s five exhibition pavilions, where visitors view the permanent collections and visiting displays. Aging equipment is being modernized with more environmentally sustainable solutions than the best practices from 30 years ago. This includes replacing 80 existing air handling units across all pavilions with more efficient electrical systems and improving energy efficiency.
The HVAC improvements have been long planned and are not in response to the January 2025 Palisades fires, a spokeswoman said. A separate cost breakdown for the HVAC improvements was not available.
Structural improvements across the 110-acre hilltop campus overlooking the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles include gallery and building enhancements for six structures, refinements to public spaces including improved accessibility, construction of new bathrooms, and sustainability updates to utilities including improved cell service and wi-fi connectivity for visitors. The Center includes just under 1 million sq ft of building space.
“We will enhance the visitor experience across the Getty Center campus through reimagined spaces and new offerings, while prioritizing sustainability,” Katherine E. Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said in a statement.
A primary reason for the public closure is the revamping of the aging tram system that ferries visitors about one mile up a hill to the galleries and public spaces. The renovation will also include a new Welcome Hall with a redesigned arrival and departure experience and new way-finding support, according to the Getty. A new cafe, bookstore and retail emporium are also planned.
Coinciding with the center’s year-long public closure, the Getty will activate a new programming space across the street from its campus in a building now under renovation. This venue will host a slate of special programs throughout the closure and will remain a dedicated program space once the Center reopens. Getty will also be expanding its neighborhood footprint, with another property acquired in the nearby Westwood neighborhood, near a new planned Metro stop, that will house its scholar program.
During the Center’s planned closure, the Getty Villa, located in Malibu, will remain open.
