Development 'threatens view of Hollywood sign'
City leaders and environmentalists in Los Angeles who fear a new development will spoil the iconic view of the Hollywood sign are battling to raise $6m to save the famous scene.
They want to buy the mountaintop land just to the west of the “H” of the sign where developers plan to erect luxury homes, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The group is worried the buildings on Cahuenga Peak would encroach on the classic view of the sign.
The land was purchased four years ago by a group of Chicago investors, having previously been owned by eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes – who once planned to build a love nest there for actress Ginger Rogers.
Five luxury estates are being considered for the 138-acre plot.
But the LA group would rather it was an extension of nearby Griffith Park.
Representatives for the Chicago owners said they are open to a bid from the city, but previous talks have fallen apart.
No current asking price has been set.
Hughes acquired the land, which offers a stunning 360-degree panorama of the Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley, in the 1930s.
The aircraft builder turned filmmaker drove Rogers up the mountainside and pledged to construct her a house there.
But the relationship did not work out, and in a 1991 television interview Rogers mentioned Hughes’ house plans as a reason she never married him.
“I knew what he wanted from me. He wanted to take me and lock me up in a hilltop house and never let me see anyone,” Rogers said.
The Chicago investors bought Cahuenga Peak from Howard Hughes Properties Ltd in 2002 for $1,675,000.
