The Iconic Watts Towers in Los Angeles Will Get a $22 Million Campus Expansion Ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics

Los Angeles is preparing a $22 million overhaul of the grounds around the Watts Towers, with city leaders positioning the work as a long-term neighborhood investment as well as part of the city’s approach to the 2028 Summer Olympics. The project is expected to take almost two years and will remake the setting of one of the city’s most distinctive cultural landmarks, adding parkland, shade and new routes through the site.

The towers themselves will remain the centerpiece. The complex contains 17 structures, a singular piece of folk art created by an Italian immigrant over roughly three decades. Construction ran from 1921 to 1954, leaving Los Angeles with an architectural environment whose handmade character contrasts sharply with the city’s better-known civic monuments and commercial skylines. The expansion is intended to give that historic work a larger, more functional public setting without changing its central role on the campus.

Plans call for the existing campus to grow into a five-acre public space. More than 30,000 square feet of additional park area is anticipated, while about 200 trees are to be planted. Greenery will be introduced around the tower complex, and the proposed landscape is expected to make the grounds more inviting for regular use as well as for visitors drawn to the landmark.

The landscaping is also meant to address environmental concerns. Officials expect designs that can better manage flooding and create cooler areas across the property. Those features could be especially significant in a dense urban setting where paved surfaces can intensify heat and where heavy rain can strain public spaces. The project therefore combines visual improvements with practical changes to the way the campus handles weather and comfort.

New paths and updated infrastructure are also part of the package. Together, those improvements are meant to make it easier to move through the site and to support its day-to-day use. The work will not treat the towers as an isolated attraction: it is designed to reshape the surrounding grounds into a more complete public campus, including room for additional public art.

That broader role matters because the area already hosts community occasions and live performances. An amphitheater and a cultural center are currently part of the campus, giving the renovation a foundation beyond tourism. The additional landscaping and circulation space could affect how comfortably the site accommodates residents, artists and audiences when events are held there, rather than simply changing its appearance for occasional visitors.

The schedule places the project in the run-up to the Olympics, when Los Angeles expects heightened international attention and more people moving through the region. But the stated focus is not limited to the sporting event. Mayor Karen Bass described the effort as an investment in Watts residents and said it should create a place the community can take pride in.

In the mayor’s account, the undertaking depends on state, county and city partners, philanthropic backers and local organizations. Bass said the goal is a campus that is greener, healthier and more active, while respecting Watts’ history and serving future generations across Los Angeles. That framing links environmental upgrades to the preservation of a landmark whose importance is inseparable from the neighborhood around it.

There is also a question built into projects timed near major global events: whether their benefits remain meaningful after the visitors leave. Olympic preparation can bring attention and capital to places that have long sought investment, but residents will ultimately judge the work by its everyday value. The announced trees, flood-conscious planting, cooler areas and improved access offer concrete measures by which the completed campus can be assessed.

For now, the key issues are execution and continuity: whether the nearly two-year build proceeds as planned, how community programming is accommodated during construction, and whether the redesigned grounds become as useful as officials intend. If completed on schedule, the expanded setting will present the Watts Towers not only as a historic artwork, but as the anchor of a larger civic space before Los Angeles welcomes the world in 2028.

Source: Smithsonian Magazine