BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Fox River Land Co.,
the owner of the land backdrop to the Hollywood sign, is selling the 138-acre
property for 22 million U.S. dollars, media reported Friday.
Keith Dickson, a representative of the group, said
the remote ridge property had been divided into lots for five luxury homes.
Utility lines, water service and roads would also have to be built.
The news provoked outrage from Los Angeles city
officials who denounced housing development there would spoil one of the most
famous postcard of the entertainment industry.
"If homes were built on this mountain, there would be
no close-up. It would be obscene," said Los Angeles City Council member Tom
LaBonge. "That mountain should not be cluttered. It's good for the psyche of Los
Angeles."
"The city should acquire this land. Everyone was
shocked to find out it was privately owned," LaBonge added.
Fox River Financial Resources bought the mountaintop
in 2002 from the estate of reclusive entrepreneur Howard Hughes, who had planned
to build a love nest there for actress Ginger Rogers in the 1940s.
For several years, Los Angeles city officials had
raised money to buy the property to adjoin it with the parkland on which the
sign sits, but officials came up short on cash.
The Hollywood sign spells out the name of the area in
45-ft (13.7-meter) high white letters. It originally read Hollywoodland and was
created as an advertisement for a housing development in 1923. The last few
letters deteriorated in the late 1940s and the part that remained was restored
in 1978.
(Agencies)
