Scientists Search La Brea Tar Pits For Ice Age Fossils
With a dental pick in hand, Karin Rice delicately scraped off a clump of asphalt from a pelvic bone belonging to a horse that roamed Los Angeles tens of thousands of years ago.
www.cbsnews.comHere’s the latest you’ll want to know about La Brea Tar Pits and Museum.
What’s happened recently
- The George C. Page Museum at La Brea Tar Pits is closing for a two-year renovation starting mid-2026 to modernize the campus, expand storage and exhibit space, add a rooftop terrace, and improve connectivity with excavation sites. The surrounding park and tar pits will remain open during construction. This renovation is described as the largest capital investment in NHM-LA’s history and aims to reopen in 2028 before the LA Olympics [Patch, 2026-04-08] [Islands, 2026-04-25].
- Visitors will still be able to experience the tar pits themselves and participate in ongoing excavations; educational outreach and a mobile museum are planned to continue during the closure [Patch, 2026-04-08].
What to plan for if you’d like to visit
- If you’re hoping to see the museum in its current form, plan a visit before early July 2026, as the museum building will close for renovation afterward. The site notes that the tar pits themselves will remain visible and excavation work will continue during construction [Islands, 2026-04-25] [Patch, 2026-04-08].
- The renovation timeline targets reopening in 2028, ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Expect expanded display and research facilities, improved visitor flow, and a more integrated experience with the park’s excavation sites upon reopening [Patch, 2026-04-08] [Islands, 2026-04-25].
Context and background
- La Brea Tar Pits is a long-standing paleontological site in Los Angeles, famous for Ice Age fossil discoveries and ongoing excavations, with the on-site George C. Page Museum serving as the public exhibit space since 1977. The current renovation plan represents a major modernization effort to better showcase discoveries and support ongoing research [Timeout LA, 2025] [Wikipedia].
What this means for researchers and students
- Research and fossil excavation activities continue during the museum’s closure, so active fieldwork and on-site science will persist; expect changes in where and how some collections are stored or displayed during construction [Patch, 2026-04-08].
Would you like a short, one-page refresher on the La Brea Tar Pits’ Ice Age fossils and key exhibits to help plan a potential pre-closure visit, or a concise timeline graphic you can share with others? I can provide a quick summary or create a simple timeline.
Citations
- La Brea Tar Pits Museum closure and renovation details [Patch, 2026-04-08].
- Closure impact on park access and renovation scope [Islands, 2026-04-25].
- Visitor guidance and timing for pre-closure visits [Patch, 2026-04-08].