Culver City : Council to Meet on MGM Sign
The City Council has scheduled a special meeting to consider a proposal by MGM/UA Communications Co. to place the historic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer “Leo the Lion” sign atop the eight-story Filmland Corporate Center.
The council set March 16 as the meeting date at the urging of MGM, which has asked the city to amend a law protecting the 54-year-old sign from alteration without council approval.
MGM officials have said they want permission to move the sign as soon as possible so they can proceed with the sign’s unveiling. The dismantled sign is stored in a building in Boyle Heights.
MGM removed the roof sign last year from the company’s former Culver City studio without the city’s permission, according to City Atty. Joseph W. Pannone. The city decided not to prosecute after MGM agreed to apply to the city to relocate the sign, Pannone said.
The Planning Commission approved the application on Feb. 25 but required MGM to reduce the height of the sign, perform a shade-and-shadow study and give Culver City “first right of refusal” to buy the sign should MGM leave the city.
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