$22 Million Renovation of LA’s Watts Towers to Begin in October
2July 31, 2026
A newly announced$22 Million expansionofLos Angeles‘sWatts TowersCampus is slated for groundbreaking in October, immediately following the premature end of a 15-year conservation project on the site. The soon to be enlarged Watts Towers Arts Center Campus (WTACC) surrounds 17 interconnected radio tower-like structures built between 1921 and 1954 by Sabato “Simon” Rodia. Resources at the campus, which include educational and cultural centers, have served the neighborhood for over half a century.
Previous conservation efforts were spearheaded by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), but stalled due to a lack of funds. Despite the flood of new money earmarked for enhancements to the site, the newly announced budget cannot be stretched to cover the remaining $412,000 required to complete the remaining 10% of renovations.
A chunk of the funding for the campus expansion came in the form of a $10.1 million donation from the Bezos Earth Fund, headed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (secured in partnership with the nonprofit Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust). This project is expected to wrap up before the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, adding 30,000 square feet of green space, climate-resilient landscaping, and more walkways and trees to what will become a 5-acre campus surrounding the towers. “This is about investing in the people of Watts and creating a space the community can be proud of,” Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement.
Rosie Lee Hooks, director of WTACC, told the Los Angeles Times that the project had been long awaited, and was sought out to counter decades of disinvestment following the 1965 Watts uprising. “People are still scared to come down here. However, our community is very, very rich in culture,” she added.
In June the World Monuments Fund added Watts Towers to “Irreplaceable America,” a collection of 10 historic sites chosen in honor of the U.S. semiquincentennial. The announcement noted that the Watts Towers are “one of the most singular works of folk art in American history,” but at present, “environmental stress, seismic risk, and dwindling resources threaten their stability.”