Construction is chugging along on the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures next to LACMA on the Miracle Mile.
Right now, the foundation is being poured for a giant orbed-shaped theater that will be attached to the rear of the old May Company building. Built in 1939, the Streamline Moderne building with its gold tower is being restored to house the museum's exhibits, which will include a full-scale model of the 1975 Jaws shark, plus:
"approximately 62,000 pieces of production art—such as a Planet of the Apes mask, a model horse head made for The Godfather and the lion’s mane and ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz—as well as some 12 million photographs, 55,000 posters, 80,000 screenplays, over 185,000 film and video elements and tens of thousands of books, periodicals, items of correspondence, scrapbooks and clippings files."
After years of community push back over concerns about traffic and parking, ground finally broke in March with the demolition of the department store's rear-wing. That makes room for the huge orb, which was designed by architect Renzo Piano to hold 1,000 seats and an observation deck. It's poised to dramatically alter the view at 6th Street and Fairfax Avenue.
A spokesman for the Academy was tight lipped about the construction's timeline and when we might begin to see that spherical theater take shape, but an opening date for the museum has been set for 2018.
Meanwhile, work is progressing on the Purple Line extension and its new station at Wilshire and Fairfax, scheduled to open in 2023.
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