Blog Assignment #4
After our trip to magnificent Las Vegas, we went south towards the Grand Canyon, Phoenix, Arizona and San Diego before ending up in Los Angeles. As the tourists we were, we had to see the famous Hollywood sign on the hills of Los Angeles. Even though the size of the sign surprised me, I wanted to figure out some more about the history of the sign - how much is the sign even worth.
Even though there quite clearly are some easements or zoning restrictions to the land where the sign is attached I've found this article that summarizes the story of the now 90-year old sign. The link has been provided underneath but I will highlight the fun an interesting details:
http://www.history.com/news/90-years-later-8-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-hollywood-sign
So, the sign was made in 1923 for a mere $21.000 as a commercial for a real estate project in the vicinity called "Hollywoodland". It was made to promote the area as a capital for movie and entertainment and quickly became an institution around Los Angeles and included light bulbs so it could be seen during the dark. In today's value it would be around $250.000 but that's a small number compared to the extend of travel that the sign provides to Los Angeles. I have added some fun facts about the sign underneath.
After our trip to magnificent Las Vegas, we went south towards the Grand Canyon, Phoenix, Arizona and San Diego before ending up in Los Angeles. As the tourists we were, we had to see the famous Hollywood sign on the hills of Los Angeles. Even though the size of the sign surprised me, I wanted to figure out some more about the history of the sign - how much is the sign even worth.
Even though there quite clearly are some easements or zoning restrictions to the land where the sign is attached I've found this article that summarizes the story of the now 90-year old sign. The link has been provided underneath but I will highlight the fun an interesting details:
http://www.history.com/news/90-years-later-8-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-hollywood-sign
So, the sign was made in 1923 for a mere $21.000 as a commercial for a real estate project in the vicinity called "Hollywoodland". It was made to promote the area as a capital for movie and entertainment and quickly became an institution around Los Angeles and included light bulbs so it could be seen during the dark. In today's value it would be around $250.000 but that's a small number compared to the extend of travel that the sign provides to Los Angeles. I have added some fun facts about the sign underneath.
- The sign originally stated Hollywoodland but four of the letters were removed after the city of Los Angeles took over ownership in the late 40ies.
- The sign has been replaced one due to wear and tear 50 years after it was first put up.
- Four letters have been removed during time - one of them fell of the attachment and another was set on fire by arsonists.
- To prevent luxury homes to be build around it, a number of movie studies, actors, and foundations raised the $12.5 million dollars asking price to keep it the way it is.
The Hollywood sign still stands as advertised and it was a funny experience to see it in another way than just through the TV. Imagine that just the lot surrounding the sign is worth $12.5 million dollars - the worth of the lot with the sign must be worth much more than that. The asking price of that lot can only be imagined.
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