LA opens doors galore in 2010

Los Angeles is heralding a host of openings in 2010 from galleries and museums to hotels and terminals.

Arriving visitors at Los Angeles International Airport will be able to see the reconstruction of the futuristic arch facades at the LAX Theme Building and the completion of renovations of the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT), designed to reduce passenger congestion in the airline ticketing lobby.

Once in the city, visitors will have a choice of several new hotels. The W Hollywood Hotel Residences opens in January 2010 while The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles and The JW Marriott Hotel Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE are both scheduled to open on February 15 as part of the L.A. LIVE sports and entertainment complex. The Holiday Inn Los Angeles City Center will undergo a $10 million renovation and will be renamed the Luxe City Center Hotel in spring 2010.

The Ray Charles Memorial Library will open on the site of his historic Los Angeles studios on what would have been the legendary performer's 80th birthday, September 23, while a major makeover at the Santa Monica Place shopping centre will hold its grand re-opening on August 6. At the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion is expected to open in May 2010 and the new Ecosystems at the California Science Center plans to open its exhibits in the spring. A new Museum of Flying is scheduled for a summer opening on the south side of Santa Monica Airport, while Descanso Gardens' environmentally friendly Sturt Haaga Gallery of Art is expected to be completed during the  spring.

Finally, LA Opera will join forces with more than 50 cultural and educational institutions in Los Angeles to stage Ring Festival LA, Richard Wagner's epic four-opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen, from April 15 to June 30.

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