LACMA spent nearly $724 million on the David Geffen Galleries — here's how it was all used

Love it or hate it, Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s David Geffen Galleries are officially opening. And with the 347,500-square-foot new wing hurtling toward its April 16 gala, the intense public debate that has raged over the structure for more than two decades is poised to enter a new phase: How does the Peter Zumthor-designed building function as a museum and what will the public’s experience be of this controversial new civic space?

In other words, was the Geffen Galleries’ $723.8-million price tag worth it?

Detractors, including former Times art critic Christopher Knight, have said no. In one of his final columns about the building during a sneak peek last summer, Knight called Zumthor’s creation “monotonous,” and lamented LACMA Director and Chief Executive Michael Govan’s plan to exhibit art according to curatorial themes rather than installing the encyclopedic collection “geographically as straightforward chronology.” Additional criticisms include the choice of architect and design (and the lack of public discourse about both), and the fact that the building lost 11,000 square feet of gallery space during the construction process, resulting in less area than the four buildings it was replacing.

Others take the opposite view.

Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, whose 2nd District houses LACMA, called Govan an “absolute visionary,” and said since joining the Board of Supervisors in 2020, she has “always felt really good about the building. Given what it signified for us here in L. A. County and across the country, it was a very different model.”

“Any future, forward-thinking architect or designer has taken heat,” Mitchell said. “If you don’t take heat, you’re probably not being futuristic enough.”

Since LACMA first floated the idea in 2001 of demolishing architect William Pereira’s original 1965 campus, which consisted of three buildings along with a fourth added in 1986, critics have argued that public money would be better spent renovating the buildings. In a lengthy interview, Govan held forth on the many reasons he believed this thinking was deeply flawed.

Joined by the museum’s budget officer and current head of finance, Arun Mathai, Govan laid out how LACMA assessed the total cost of the building, which does not include landscaping or permanent collection installation, and detailed why he thinks the project — through its use of local workers and its ability to attract high-profile donors and art collections — remains a net positive for L. A. County and the public.

“The ideal goal is to hire workers and get art for free,” Govan said, noting that the project employed more than 8,600 workers on site and off. This includes craft workers, as well as management staff with Clark Construction, engineering firms, design teams, fabricators and suppliers. The local hire rate was 47%, and the total hours worked in all trades was 2.3 million, with wages ranging from $43 to $131 with benefits and $28 to $86 without benefits. In 2021, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. estimated that the David Geffen Galleries building project would generate more than $1.2 billion in economic activity and result in $698.3 million in value added for the county.

Govan also credits Geffen Galleries with bringing in the kind of art that only a marquee building constructed to last could attract. This includes late trustee Elaine Wynn’s gift of a $142-million triptych by Francis Bacon; portions of the vaunted Pearlman Collection, including the museum’s first paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Édouard Manet; and Bel-Air billionaire A. Jerrold Perenchio’s 2014 gift of his Impressionist and Modern art collection, totaling 47 works and valued at $500 million.

“L. A. was losing art because of its poor facilities,” Govan said, noting that Perenchio explicitly told him he would not leave his collection to the old buildings. “I sat with him at a dinner and he said to me, ‘Are you really serious that you’re going to rebuild them?’ And I said, ‘I am really serious.’ And he said, ‘Let’s talk.’ So that collection, his gift, is his public declaration [of support].”

Perenchio’s contribution came shortly after the L. A. County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to approve initial funding of the new building, which at that time was planned for 2023 with an estimated cost of $600 million. Public criticism reached new heights after a Board of Supervisors meeting in April 2019 during which city officials voted on whether to release taxpayer dollars to LACMA.

Celebrities including Brad Pitt and Diane Keaton stumped for the Zumthor design at the meeting, eclipsing the voices of many citizens who questioned the project — and the board voted unanimously to release the funds. The following year, a nonprofit called Save LACMA, which was founded by preservationists, proposed a ballot measure intended to limit the amount of money the museum could receive from the county and also require an elected official to sit on the museum’s board.

Another grassroots group called the Citizens’ Brigade to Save LACMA launched an international architectural competition “aimed at rethinking the museum’s plan,” with one of the group’s founders, architecture critic Greg Goldin, calling the demolition of the old campus an “act of civic vandalism” in a column for The Times.

Construction began in 2020, at which point the total cost of the building was estimated at $650 million, with a fundraising goal of $750 million. Govan attributed the need for an additional $74 million, which ultimately raised the total price tag to what it is today, to pandemic-related inflation coinciding with the 11-month delay that arose after builders ran into an unexpectedly large tranche of tar and animal bones, which needed to be meticulously excavated, documented and preserved.

Now that the building is finished, the total price tag, according to LACMA’s records, stands as follows: $585 million in “hard costs,” which include the building that can be seen — called “above grade” ($485.5 million) — and everything below the building that remains unseen — called “below grade” ($63 million). Govan acknowledged that below-grade costs were quite large because they went toward 56 seismic base isolators, which can move 5 feet in any direction in the event of an earthquake. The remaining $36.6 million was used on sitework such as clearing, grading, excavation and utility installation.

Soft costs for the Geffen Galleries came in at $138.7 million, including architecture and engineering; planning and approvals; and administration and management.

“I was proud to be spending that much money,” said Govan, who remarked throughout the interview that he remains baffled by critics who argue that the price tag is too high when the county contribution has remained the same throughout, and the remainder of the money was raised from thousands of individual donors internationally as the result of “L. A.’s star power” — reflecting a sustained devotion and respect for art and culture in the city.

“If you add all the money we’re spending, we can easily surpass $800 million, and we’re hoping to spend more,” Govan said, noting that the total building cost doesn’t include leasing office space; moving, storing and acquiring art; and sourcing and designing furniture. He also joked that he intended to continue fundraising “forever.” (The campaign has already surpassed its $750-million goal to reach more than $875 million.)

“There are, like, 30 galleries left to name,” Govan said smiling.

Calling himself a “proselytizer for building museums,” Govan noted that LACMA, which has a total operating budget of almost $97 million this year, will soon turn its attention to building a satellite in South L. A.

“We should just keep going. Let’s keep building for art in L. A.,” Govan said. “The goal is to spend more on cultural infrastructure, especially when it includes art.”

In a budget document reviewed by The Times, an additional $50 million, not included in the total building cost, was spent on permanent collection and artist installations, acquisitions and commissions, including Jeff Koons’ monumental topiary sculpture “Split-Rocker,” Pedro Reyes’ “Tlali” and Mariana Castillo Deball’s “Feathered Changes.”

L. A. County contributed $125 million, and also extended $300 million in credit to help the museum cover building expenses while it was in the midst of its fundraising campaign. LACMA is in the process of paying that debt off, and when it eventually does, the county will own the building.

The county, Govan said, was not remotely interested in renovating the old buildings because it would have cost more than $250 million. A board letter reviewed by The Times from Oct. 13, 2020, notes that according to a building evaluation study prepared by the construction management firm Owen Group in September 2014, “the demolished buildings had experienced extensive water intrusion damage and were compromised by deteriorating and failing building and mechanical systems that exceeded their expected useful life and would have required a County expenditure of approximately $246 million to fund a minimal level of repairs. The repairs would have been limited to visually apparent defects, and not include any upgraded systems that would have extended the useful life of the buildings.”

By comparison, $125 million was “a bargain for the county,” said Govan, “Because they had the liability of ownership of those buildings and the deferred maintenance was extraordinary.”

Govan said the old buildings had earned the staff moniker “LEAKMA” because administrative offices had to use buckets to catch water when it rained, and some art had to be taken off the walls to avoid water damage after storms.

All told, construction of the Geffen Galleries cost about $2,082 per square foot, which Govan said was average for museums. The Whitney Museum of American Art’s Renzo Piano-designed building cost $422 million when it opened in 2015 and spans 200,000 square feet, making its cost about $2,110 per square foot. Adjusted for inflation, that would make the Whitney’s cost about $582 million in 2026, or roughly $2,910 per square foot.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s 2016 Snøhetta expansion cost $305 million and added 235,000 square feet — about $1,765 per square foot. Adjusted for inflation, that would be roughly $1,755 per square foot today. But this might understate the true price because post-pandemic construction costs have risen faster than general CPI inflation.

LACMA, Govan acknowledged, has taken on $643 million in debt since 2008 — $343 million that year and the aforementioned $300 million from the county in 2020. That debt has been paid down to $617 million, which the museum will pay off by 2050, although Govan said, “We can pay off the current debt without raising another nickel.”

Now that construction is complete, the risk of cost overruns is gone. In late March, a Moody’s credit rating report assigned LACMA an A3 rating (the seventh highest rating on a 21-notch scale) based on its “strong relationship” with L. A. County and its “very strong philanthropy.” Offsetting credit factors included the museum’s “very high debt relative to both cash and investments and to operations.”

Govan said he feels more confident than ever as the museum readies for its close-up, with member previews beginning April 19 and general admission on May 4.

“You build the building to get the art,” he said. “That’s the whole goal.”