Oscar Ceremony to Get a New Home

The Oscars appear to be heading to Hollywood.

In the past, the Oscar ceremonies have shuttled between the Shrine Auditorium near USC and the Los Angeles Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Now, Academy sources say, plans are in place to move the Oscars to a new venue on Hollywood Boulevard near Mann’s Chinese Theatre as part of an effort to revitalize Hollywood.

Mayor Richard Riordan, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and developers have scheduled a news conference for this morning to announce the plans.

For months, discussions have been held among Academy officials, the city and developers over whether to build a 3,300-seat Academy Theater, which would play permanent host to the annual Oscars telecast. The theater would be part of a massive retail and entertainment complex.

The developer, TrizecHahn, has predicted that such a complex could attract more than 9 million visitors a year. Some backers have also said that the complex could attract movie premieres and film festivals to the area.