In 2017, LACMA announced plans for a satellite campus at the South Los Angeles Wetlands Park - part of an initiative to create “a de-centered museum in a de-centered metropolis." Seven years and one global pandemic later, that project will not be moving forward, according to a staff report to the Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners.

Citing an estimated cost that now far exceeds what LACMA had initially budgeted for, the museum submitted a termination agreement to the Department of Recreation and Parks via letter in July 2024. Based on lease terms, the agreement would be terminated as of September 12, according to the letter. LACMA never commenced work on its proposed retrofit of the building.

An e-mail to LACMA requesting more information was not returned by the time of publication.

The approximately 84,000-structure, called Building 71, is a remnant of the property's past as a Metro bus maintenance and storage facility. The nine-acre property at 5413 S. Avalon Boulevard was reopened as park space in 2012.

LACMA had billed the satellite campus as a place to both store and display work from its collection, which consists of more than 150,000 pieces. The museum had also proposed providing programming for schools, space for lectures, music, and an art library.

While a grim financial outlook may have caused the project's downfall, in 2018, LACMA director Michael Govan had been optimistic about the ability to finance construction.

"We will need to raise a lot of capital," Govan told LAist  at the time. "You know the project could cost easily $25 million plus, just because it's a large building... L.A. is not going to run out of money doing this project. In fact in my philanthropy in seeking funds I really think that often to give and to create things like this, it's a gift to those donors."

At the same time, a LACMA representative Chi-Young Kim states via e-mail that a separate satellite facility is still planned next to Earvin “Magic” Johnson Park in the unincorporated Willowbrook neighborhood.

Miles north at LACMA's main Miracle Mile campus, work continues on the $715-million David Geffen Galleries, which has seen its expected completion date slip to 2026. The controversial project results in slightly less space than the buildings it replaced - a criticism which museum officials had responded to by pointing to plans to open up satellite campuses across the region.

At the same time, LACMA has instead moved forward with a partnership that will instead see pieces from its collection loaned to the nascent Las Vegas Museum of Art.

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Updated on September 19 to correct the budget of the David Geffen Galleries, previously stated as $750 million, and note that LACMA is still pursuing a satellite facility in Willowbrook.