Accord Reached on Ways to Preserve Hollywood Studios

The Studio/Preservation Task Force announced a set of recommendations Thursday to preserve historically significant Hollywood studios while enabling movie companies to keep the cameras rolling.

“The studios will be able to develop and grow, and at the same time historically and architecturally significant buildings will be preserved,” Councilman Michael Woo, whose 13th District includes Hollywood, said at a press conference at Paramount Pictures.

The task force was established last year by Woo to resolve a conflict created when Hollywood Center Studios sought to demolish seismically unsafe buildings and was blocked by preservationists. Members include representatives of studios in Woo’s district, such as Paramount, Raleigh and Hollywood Center, and of such preservationist groups as Hollywood Heritage and Los Angeles Conservancy.

Recommendations include a survey over the coming months to determine which buildings or sites are worthy of protection, Woo said. Studio members of the task force have agreed not to demolish or significantly alter buildings identified by the survey as historically significant without task-force approval, while preservationist members will not object to reversible or interior alterations to such buildings. The proposals allow for placement of a plaque on a designated building and a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

“With these recommendations in place, we can preserve Hollywood’s precious past without sacrificing its future,” Woo said.

Hillary Gitelman, executive director of Hollywood Heritage, echoed Woo’s remarks: “It looks as if historic preservation and good business can be accomplished with the same actions.”