Cahuenga Peak is a Homeland Security site. Much of the City's important public safety communications are relayed across it. You certainly won't see a freakin' hotel there.
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After Hugh Hefner steps in to save it, could the iconic
Hollywood sign now become a hotel for the stars?
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner was a hailed a hero when he topped up the funds to save the Hollywood sign from the grasps of developers last week. Now though, it has been revealed that the famous letters which overlook Los Angeles could yet take on another guise - as a luxury hotel. Hefner put forward $900,000 to ensure the sign dodged the bulldozers but if a Danish architect gets his way, they could end up being adapted into accommodation.
The sign originally read 'Hollywoodland' when it was erected on the city's Cahuenga Peak in 1923. The letters have since welcomed millions of tourists - not to mention aspiring actors - to the world's film capital. Now architect Christian Bay-Jorgensen says the sign could be transformed into a hotel, with each letter hosting guests and rooms with amazing views of Los Angeles. The hotel letters would be twice the height of the current 45-ft tall sign, and include an observation deck.
'I'm a fan of the Hollywood sign and the unused spaces of America,' said Bay-Jorgensen. 'It could be interesting to make it a center for such events as the Golden Globes and Oscars. This could be the future of the sign.' The letters have inspired both tragedy and affection. In 1932, young Welsh-born actress Peg Entwistle, frustrated with ongoing rejection by the city's film directors, climbed 45 feet up to the top of the letter 'H' and jumped to her death. The 24-year-old became known as 'The Hollywood Sign Girl'. And when the sign fell into disrepair in the 1970s, it was restored after a campaign which saw nine donors pay $27,777 to 'adopt' one letter each.
