Remaking LACMA. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art will unveil a planned $650 million makeover next month that would require demolishing much of the current museum.
LACMA Director Michael Govan says a new design by Dutch architect Peter Zumthor – a Pritzker Prize winner – will redefine the encyclopedic museum for the 21st Century. To do that, the L.A. Times reports LACMA plans to gut much of the museum’s central core. The Hammer and Ahmanson buildings would be among the structures razed to make way for a new building along Wilshire Boulevard. The new Broad Contemporary Art Museum on the LACMA campus would stay, as would the new Resnick Pavilion, the Japanese Pavilion and the May Company Building, an art deco landmark that is being converted into a film museum.
LACMA will launch a capital campaign to raise the money for the new building. The Times says construction would cost $450 million, with $200 million earmarked for other expenses. The new design will be shown to the public in June.
Tanaka speaks. A man who served for years as one of Lee Baca’s top lieutenants says the L.A. Sheriff cares more about politics than public safety. Former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka has offered up a scathing critique of his former boss two months after resigning from the department under pressure. L.A. Times
May Day. Thousands of people are expected to take to downtown L.A. streets to demonstrate in favor of immigration reform and labor rights. KNBC
LAX remake. The L.A. City Council has approved a planned $4.76 billion modernization of LAX despite opposition from neighborhood activists. L.A. Daily News
Flight fight. Santa Monica residents argued late into the night over the fate of that city’s airport during a special city council, At issue is what to do when the facility’s lease with the FAA expires in 2016. KNBC
Power outage. The operator of the San Onofre nuclear power plant is threatening to permanently close one or both reactors if regulators reject its proposal to re-start one of the units. Meanwhile, costs related to the closure have soared past $550 million. AP
No case. A federal judge has dismissed a $120 million lawsuit filed by the family of a man who shot by LAPD officers after a San Fernando Valley car chase. L.A. Daily News