At a groundbreaking ceremony held last week, Holocaust Museum LA officially commenced work on a $50-million expansion of its campus within Pan Pacific Park.

The Jona Goldrich Campus, which will build upon existing facilities at 100 The Grove Drive, calls for the construction of new galleries and classrooms, a learning center, a 200-seat theater, and a new pavilion which will house a boxcar found at Majdanek death camp in Poland.

Aerial view of Pan Pacific Park and Holocaust Museum LAGary Leonard

“Holocaust Museum LA is digging in with its shovels and our hearts to continue building an institution dedicated to eradicating all forms of antisemitism and hate through education and enlightenment," said the museum's chief executive officer Beth Kean. "We will continue to honor both the memories of those who perished and our beloved survivors, whose courage, determination, strength and resiliency remind the world that we must never forget the critical lessons of the past.”

Architect Hagy Belzberg of BA Collective is designing the Goldrich campus, which would roughly double the footprint of the museum, as well as its capacity for visitors. The new space would be used to preserve testimony from Holocaust survivors and house temporary and traveling exhibits.

Groundbreaking ceremony for the Jona Goldrich CampusGary Leonard

Completion is expected in 2025.

The project is named after one of the museum's founders, Holocaust survivor Jona Goldrich, whose daughters Andrea Goldrich Cayton and Melinda Goldrich provided a lead gift for the expansion. Other funding sources include the Stanley and Joyce Black Family Foundation, whose names will adorn the new pavilion, and the S. Mark Taper Foundation, for which the new theater shall be named. Another notable donor, the Smidt Foundation, provided the largest contribution from a family or organization not descended from Holocaust survivors or victims.

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