$300 Million Movie Museum Gets Green Light from L.A. Council

The Los Angeles City Council gave final approval Wednesday to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ plan to build a $300 million downtown museum devoted to the history of film, reports the Los Angeles Times. The 13-0 vote cleared the way for the nonprofit group that presents the Oscars to start construction this summer on the Renzo Piano-designed Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, set to open in 2017 next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The privately funded project has drawn $250 million in donations, according to the museum officials. Among the donors are industry heavyweights like David Geffen, Steven Spielberg, and Dalian Wanda Group, a China-based cinema conglomerate. The museum still faces one possible obstacle, a threatened lawsuit by activist group Fix the City, which contends Los Angeles officials have not adequately assessed potential parking and traffic problems associated with a facility expected to draw some 860,000 visitors a year.