On November 15th, Gurbax Sahota and Michelle Stephens, traveled to Los Angeles for the expansion groundbreaking for Holocaust Museum Los Angeles (HMLA). HMLA was founded in 1961, and operates a museum dedicated to the survivors of the Holocaust on property leased from the City of Los Angeles. It is the only cultural institution in Los Angeles with a sole focus on the horrific impact and the enormity of the Holocaust that is free for students from anywhere across the globe.
On October 14, 2010, Holocaust Museum LA opened the doors to its permanent home in Pan Pacific Park. The museum building, designed by acclaimed architect Hagy Belzberg, has received many architectural awards. The number of visitors to the Museum has increased by over 400% since 2011. As a result, the Museum has been forced to turn away schools and tour groups and knew that expansion was necessary to continue their mission.
The financing, over $35 million in pledged donations and a $37 million tax-exempt loan from Farmers & Merchants Bank and issued by the California Enterprise Development Authority (CEDA), will expand the facility from 28,000 to 50,000 square feet. This will increase the annual visitor capacity to 500,000 by 2030, including 150,000 students. It will expand educational programs and preserve Holocaust survivor testimonies through cutting-edge technology and also allow the display of new, temporary, and traveling exhibits, in addition to curating exhibits from the Museum’s own collection.
The project also includes new indoor and outdoor spaces that will double the Museum’s footprint in Pan Pacific Park. The new Learning Center Pavilion, adjacent to the existing building, will include a dedicated theater; a 200-seat theater for film screenings, concerts, conferences, and public programs; outdoor reflective spaces; two classrooms for large student groups and programs for younger audiences; and 2,500 sq. ft. of special exhibit space. In addition, a new Boxcar Pavilion built to house an authentic boxcar found outside of Majdanek death camp in Poland will be constructed on top of the existing building.
CALED President & CEO and CEDA Chair, Gurbax Sahota noted, “It was a special experience to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of the Holocaust Museum in Los Angeles and hear survivors, leaders, and electeds share a strong message on the value of education as a tool to help future generations.”
CEDA is grateful to our partners on the finance team as they worked alongside the Museum’s leadership over the last fourteen months to get to this point. Thank you to Kirk Dowdell, Jeff Spinelli with Farmers & Merchants Bank, and Sam Balisy and Jessica Shaham with Kutak Rock.
To learn more about how CEDA can help finance non-profit projects in your community, reach out to Michelle Stephens or visit the CEDA website.