La Brea Tar Pits & Museum

La Brea Tar Pits is one of the most important paleontological localities in the world and the only active excavation site in a major city. Yet, because the Tar Pits site and work center was built more than 50 years ago, it currently lacks the necessary facilities for contemporary scientific research and interpretation — such as accessible collections storage and chemistry labs. The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is redesigning the Tar Pits to not only support scientific discovery, but also demystify the science and make it relevant and inspiring to future generations of Angelenos.

With the transformation planning underway, the Museum engaged Lord Cultural Resources to develop a financial model and business plan for its operations that would flexibly accommodate the project as it evolves. Our team developed a two phased process that includes thorough research and analysis of the envisioned operation leading to a sustainable Business Plan. The plan is backed up by clear assumptions and integrated with a financial Model that the Museum can then own and further update to reflect future operating conditions and project developments.