Illuminating a Symbol of Hollywood : Chamber of Commerce Backing Plans to Bathe Famed Sign in Floodlights

In its 66 years, the Hollywood sign has been defaced, trivialized, commercialized, ravaged by time and the elements, torn down and built back up again.

Yet, through all that, it has remained a revered structure in a city short on landmarks of the caliber of the Statue of Liberty, an Eiffel Tower or a Big Ben.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has orchestrated a number of campaigns over the years to rescue the sign, erected by real estate developers in 1923 at a cost of $21,000 and originally reading “Hollywoodland”--the name of the subdivision it towered over.

The chamber, keeper of the sign since 1949, when it restored the “H” after it blew down in a windstorm, is now moving at full-throttle on a new project to bathe the 45-foot sign atop Mt. Lee with floodlights.

Peter Drake, a chamber official, says lighting the sign will further enhance it as a symbol of both the old and new Hollywood.

“Putting lights under the sign would be a spectacular thing for the people of Los Angeles to see,” he said. “There’ll be a glow around the letters that will make them visible throughout the Los Angeles Basin.

Rebirth and Redevelopment

“It will serve as an inspiration for the redevelopment and rebirth of Hollywood, a clear signal of good things to come.”

Still, like previous efforts to refurbish the sign, the idea of lighting it sparked complaints from community groups concerned about attracting the attention of vandals and trespassers.

Much of the controversy, however, has dimmed in recent months with plans to install a barbed-wire fence around the sign, as well as starting other security measures designed to dissuade pranksters.

Drake says that the chamber, as part of its plan to illuminate the sign, expects to spend about $100,000 in the first year of the project to install electronic surveillance cameras and sensors in the area as well as signs warning away would-be trespassers.

Additionally, a security company will be hired to patrol the streets in the canyon below the sign.

A meeting late last year of homeowners, Hollywood business leaders and chamber officials produced a clear understanding of what it will take to make lighting the sign a reality while maintaining peace and security in the neighborhood, Drake said.

Had such measures been adopted in the past, the Hollywood sign would have escaped much of the abuse it has suffered over the years.

Its history is replete with colorful and, occasionally, sad anecdotes.

To many, making it in Hollywood symbolizes the ultimate attainment. But to Lillian Millicent Entwhistle, a noted stage actress of her time, it spelled shattered hopes. In 1932, after failing to repeat her success on film, Entwhistle climbed to the top of the letter “H” that had grimly mocked her and leaped to her death.

Pranksters at Work

Some of the most unusual events in the history of the sign occurred more recently. On Jan. 1, 1976, to emphasize the change in California’s marijuana laws, several people modified the sign to read “Hollyweed.” On Easter morning that same year, the same individuals draped black sheets over the first “L,” causing the sign to read “Holywood.”

In 1987, a band of student pranksters used a black-and-white canvas to make the sign read “Caltech.”

Lighting the sign is not a new idea.

When it was first built, the sign was illuminated by 4,000 20-watt light bulbs placed eight inches apart.

The lights were maintained until 1939 by Dr. Albert Kother who, living in a small cabin behind one of the “Ls,” replaced the bulbs as they burned out.

The sign could be seen for miles and became a prop for early movies, while pilots regarded it as a navigational landmark. But by 1939, maintenance of the sign stopped.

It was not until 10 years later that the chamber stepped into the picture and restored the sign for the first time.

The chamber saved the sign again in 1964 and again in 1978, when it raised $250,000 to construct a sturdier version that was unveiled on national television on Hollywood’s 75th anniversary.

Drake says the lights should be in place and set to be switched on for the first time July 4, possibly in conjunction with an Independence Day fireworks show at the Hollywood Bowl.

The lights will be installed at the foot of the sign--at no cost--by Arco Solar, a subsidiary of Atlantic Richfield Co.

Drake says the lights will be powered by a solar battery and will cast their beams from dusk to midnight. For its contribution, Arco Solar will be able to promote itself as the company responsible for lighting the landmark.

“The Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower are lit up,” Drake said. “Why shouldn’t Hollywood’s most famous landmark be?”