County Museum of Art taking off-the-wall approach: shift to an open-air entrance will cut upgrade construction costs.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art figured out one way to keep construction costs down: It eliminated the walls of its new grand entrance.

"It saved millions," said Michael Govan, LACMA's chief executive and director.

Not only will the museum save the cost of the expensive glass walls, but it will sidestep the costs of heating and air conditioning systems that it won't buy or pay to install.

Instead of an enclosed space, the new entrance pavilion will be an open air one. Govan said he preferred it that way. Since the days are few in which it is truly cold or hot in Los Angeles, the pavilion needs only a roof. And the open pavilion will be more in touch with its Wilshire Boulevard neighborhood, he said. Outdoor art can be placed in the pavilion.

Govan's comments followed a press briefing Tuesday in which he and local dignitaries including philanthropist Eli Broad and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced that fundraising for Phase I of LACMA's so called Transformation Campaign had come to an end. BP announced that it had given $25 million to the campaign; the donation was called the largest single corporate donation to a Southern California arts institution.

As a result of the donation, the entrance pavilion, now under construction, will be called the BP Grand Entrance. Besides the fact that it will have no walls, another highlight of the pavilion will be solar panels on the roof to generate electricity, since BP is an energy company.

The entrance pavilion will be a hub where visitors can enter and turn east and go into the familiar Ahmanson Building or turn west and go into the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, now under construction and the major feature of the Phase I construction.

The construction budget was set at about $150 million nearly two years ago. Despite rapidly rising construction costs since, the construction budget is now $156 million, or only about 4 percent higher, said Melody Kanschat, LACMA's president. Part of the reason the increase has been tethered is because of the savings from the open-air decision.

Much of the construction money is being spent on the Broad building, but a good deal of it is being spent on a 500-space garage and some other features.

Actually, close to $200 million has been raised, but much of the extra money will go into education endowments and similar non-construction budgets, Govan said.

The decision to go with the open-air pavilion will not only save construction costs now but will keep saving money in the future, Govan said.

"We won't have to pay to heat or cool the space," he said.