Hollywood sign saved for good
Source: Agencies |
April 28, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Hollywood sign, a beacon to stars and star-struck alike, has been saved from urban sprawl under a land conservation pact announced on Monday after a donation by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner capped a multimillion-dollar fundraising drive.
"It's a symbol of dreams and a symbol of opportunity and hope," actor-turned Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced below the towering letters. "The Hollywood sign will welcome dreamers, artists and Austrian bodybuilders for generations to come."
The huge sign overlooking the city was in danger of having its distinctive setting on the flanks of the Santa Monica Mountains crowded by construction of estate homes on nearby Cahuenga Peak.
But a US$900,000 donation from Heffner, who helped save the sign itself 32 years ago, and a US$500,000 matching grant completed a US$12.5 million fundraising drive to protect 56 hectares from development that would have altered the globally recognized symbol of the world's film and television capital.
The Trust for Public Land conservation group raised US$6.7 million in private funds, the state offered US$3.1 million, and local funds totaled US$2.7 million.
Schwarzenegger said private donations came from all 50 states, 10 foreign countries, Tiffany & Co and individuals including J. Paul Getty heir Aileen Getty, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
Filmmaker and aviation mogul Howard Hughes bought the property in 1940 to build a home for then-girlfriend Ginger Rogers, but that never came about, and the Hughes estate sold the property in 2002 for US$1.7 million to Chicago-based investment group Fox River Financial Resources Inc.
It was put on the market again two years ago for US$22 million, but The Trust for Public Land negotiated a lower price.
Ironically, the sign was originally erected in 1923 to promote a real estate development, with its 9-meter-by-15-meter letters spelling "Hollywoodland."
"It's a symbol of dreams and a symbol of opportunity and hope," actor-turned Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced below the towering letters. "The Hollywood sign will welcome dreamers, artists and Austrian bodybuilders for generations to come."
The huge sign overlooking the city was in danger of having its distinctive setting on the flanks of the Santa Monica Mountains crowded by construction of estate homes on nearby Cahuenga Peak.
But a US$900,000 donation from Heffner, who helped save the sign itself 32 years ago, and a US$500,000 matching grant completed a US$12.5 million fundraising drive to protect 56 hectares from development that would have altered the globally recognized symbol of the world's film and television capital.
The Trust for Public Land conservation group raised US$6.7 million in private funds, the state offered US$3.1 million, and local funds totaled US$2.7 million.
Schwarzenegger said private donations came from all 50 states, 10 foreign countries, Tiffany & Co and individuals including J. Paul Getty heir Aileen Getty, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
Filmmaker and aviation mogul Howard Hughes bought the property in 1940 to build a home for then-girlfriend Ginger Rogers, but that never came about, and the Hughes estate sold the property in 2002 for US$1.7 million to Chicago-based investment group Fox River Financial Resources Inc.
It was put on the market again two years ago for US$22 million, but The Trust for Public Land negotiated a lower price.
Ironically, the sign was originally erected in 1923 to promote a real estate development, with its 9-meter-by-15-meter letters spelling "Hollywoodland."
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