MOVIES - Feb. 16, 1987

Melvin Simon Associates of Los Angeles has been selected to develop a proposed $53-million museum to Hollywood’s past. Los Angeles City Councilman Michael Woo said Thursday the planned museum would include hands-on exhibits, displays, archives and theaters devoted to film, television and radio. The museum is to be constructed on a site next to Mann’s Chinese Theater near the corner of Highland Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard, replacing a graffiti-smeared hamburger stand, tour bus kiosk, car rental office and parking lot and be incorporated into a 400,000-square-foot, eight-acre development of restaurants, shops and a hotel. Woo, who represents Hollywood and is driving for a 30-year, $922-million renovation effort in the area, said ground-breaking is planned for 1989 with the museum opening 1990.