Mammoth Or No Mammoth? La Brea Tar Pits Hears Proposals To Reimagine Historic Site

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — What will a piece of Los Angeles history look like in the future?

That's the question three renowned architectural firms hoped to answer Monday night when the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum unveiled three preliminary concepts for re-imagining its facilities.

Under one proposal by New York-based Weiss/Manfredi, most of the park's current architecture would be preserved while adding a new wing to the northwest portion of
the property, where a parking lot currently sits.

The designers say the plan keeps the museum's iconic mammoth in its current location as a featured attraction, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Danish architecture studio Dorte Mandrup introduced a second design calling for an upgrade of the museum "so the moment you step inside the park you become immersed into the story of the Tar Pits," said Dorte Mandrup-Poulsen, Founder and Creative Director of the studio Dorte Mandrup.

As part of the proposal, a story would be added to the existing structure as well as incorporating a rooftop garden. The mammoth would not be moved, the Times reported.

The final plan calls for a more radical approach: razing the current museum and replacing it with a four-story structure that would house exhibitions, labs and collection spaces.

Under the pitch from from New York-based Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the mammoth would be relocated from the lake and into a gallery in the museum, the Times reported.

Displays prepared by the three teams will be on public view in the museum at La Brea Tar Pits through Sept. 15 along with digital versions of the materials on TarPits.org. The public is encouraged to provide feedback onsite or online.

Officials with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County expect to select a proposal before 2019, followed by a public engagement, master planning, design and construction process over the next several years," the Tar Pits said in a statement.