Hollywood Sign Endangered By Real Estate Deal

LOS ANGELES — The world-famous HOLLYWOOD sign that has been used by TV and movie directors in more scene-setting shots than a film student could ever count was first erected in 1923 to promote real estate in the fledgling capital of celluloid.

Eighty-five years later, some fear the sign and the hillside on which it sits are threatened by, yes, a real estate deal.

An investment group that owns 138 sage-covered acres above and to the left of the 45-foot-high, steel-and-concrete H put the land up for sale last month for $22 million.

Some Los Angeles residents are afraid mansions will be built there, spoiling the sign`s uncluttered, postcard-perfect backdrop. They worry, too, that the land will no longer be accessible to the hikers, sightseers and romantics who often climb the hill for solitude and a panoramic view of the Los Angeles b...