La Brea Tar Pits to host farewell disco party before temporarily closing for 2-year renovation

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- The La Brea Tar Pits will turn back the clock Saturday evening with a 1970s-themed farewell party celebrating the nearly 50-year-old museum before it closes for a two-year renovation.

The "Last Dance at La Brea Tar Pits" event will feature music, dancing, food and drinks as guests bid farewell to the museum before it undergoes a sweeping transformation, according to the museum. Attendees are encouraged to wear 1970s attire for a costume contest.

"See mammoths, mastodons, and saber-toothed cats come alive in sequins and stardust," the museum said on its website. "Dance the night away to the grooviest hits of the '70s with DJ Cristy Bubbles. Sip retro pours and sample late-night bites under the disco ball."

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County announced earlier this year that the George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits will close to the public July 7 for what officials describe as the most extensive renovation in the museum's nearly 50-year history.

The surrounding park will remain open during the approximately two- year construction project.

The renovation will modernize the museum, which opened in 1977, with new exhibition galleries, visible research laboratories, expanded collections storage, a theater and a rooftop terrace overlooking the tar pits and surrounding park, officials said.

The project also will preserve the museum's historic atrium and iconic exterior while improving accessibility throughout the building.

Plans also call for construction of the Samuel Oschin Global Center for Ice Age Research, which will bring fossil preparation and scientific research into public view.

Although the museum building will close, paleontologists and researchers will continue excavating fossils, caring for the collection and conducting scientific research throughout the project.

Educational programs also will continue, including behind-the-scenes tours, presentations and visits by the La Brea Tar Pits Mobile Museum to schools and community events across Los Angeles County.

Museum officials expect the reimagined campus, including the new Samuel Oschin Global Center for Ice Age Research, to reopen in 2028 ahead of the Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Tickets for the dance party are available at tickets.nhmlac.org.