Serving Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, and the Greater Wilshire neighborhoods of Los Angeles since 2011.

Facelift for the Hollywood Sign

You can see it from many of our north-south streets in the greater Hancock Park area – the iconic HOLLYWOOD sign reflecting white and bright from the Hollywood Hills. But beginning today, the sign may appear to be fading – perhaps melting away in all this heat? – as workers begin stripping the giant sheet metal characters and prepping them for a new coat of paint.

The Hollywood Sign Trust and Sherwin Williams are funding the sign refurbishment according to Hollywoodsign.org. The 89 year old sign hasn’t had a new paint job for some 35 years, and is expected to take 8-10 weeks, and use 275 gallons of paint. Yes, it will still be white.

Did you know the original sign was rimmed in 4,000 light bulbs and flashed in segments – holly – wood – land ? The 8 minute film below, commissioned by the Art Institute of California-Hollywood in 2009, has some fantastic archival footage of the early days of the iconic sign along with its history beginning as an advertisement for the Hollywoodland Realty Co.

Should you like to follow the current news of the sign’s facelift, the people at Sherwin Williams and the Hollywood Sign Trust will be supplying photos and notes on the event on hollywoodsign.org.

A while back, the Buzz posted a fun short film about the Red Bull Air Force flying over the Hollywood sign in only wingsuits. It’s worth a re-visit to get even part of the rush these guys must get jumping free-fall out of a plane over the sign:

Larchmont Buzz: Swoop Over the Hollywood Sign

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Julie Grist
Julie Grist
Julie co-founded the Larchmont Buzz with fellow buzzer Mary Hawley in 2011 and served as Editor, Publisher and writer for the hive for many years until the sale of the Buzz in August 2015. She is still circling the hive as an occasional writer.

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