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Hollywood makeover! Los Angeles’ famous Hollywood sign gets a new paint job with workers clearing the grime from the 45-foot structure as its 100th anniversary approaches
- The Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles is getting a makeover this month in preparation for its 100th anniversary
- Painters scraped dirt off the iconic letters and began the eight-week process of repainting each letter
- The letters are 50 feet high and together weigh 250 tons, while also taking about 250 gallons of paint to cover the sign
- Sherwin-Williams, an Ohio-based painting company, has been selected to take the honors again and has gone with an ‘extra-white’ color
- “It now represents not only the place of Hollywood, but it also represents the entertainment industry, and LA is the entertainment capital of the world”
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The Hollywood sign is getting a deep clean and a fresh coat of white paint, just in time for its 100th anniversary.
After a pressure wash and some rust removal, workers began using 250 gallons of primer and white paint to brighten up the board for its centenary next year.
The entire renovation is expected to take up to eight weeks, and the last time it was cleaned was ten years ago, in preparation for the 90th anniversary.
Workers used elevated platforms to scrape rust and grime from the 50-foot letters before using high-powered sprayers to coat it in a bold new coat of white paint.
The first sign, which read “Hollywoodland,” was erected in 1923, according to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
“It now represents not only the place of Hollywood, but it also represents the entertainment industry, and LA is the entertainment capital of the world”
The 45-foot-tall sign in the Hollywood Hills above Los Angeles is repainted every decade
The sign weighs no less than 225 tons, because the letters are made of corrugated metal
Sherwin-Williams, an Ohio-based painting company, repaints the sign with a special weatherproof mix
The Chamber of Commerce owns the sign, but the Hollywood Sign Trust talks about maintenance and the city itself owns the land.
But after decades of neglect, the original sign was shortened to “Hollywood” and was completely replaced by a new sign in 1978.
The replacement we see today is due in part to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who ran a fundraiser to auction the old letters to help pay for the new ones.
The mounds were empty for three months until the new sign we see today was installed.
“It now represents not only the place of Hollywood, but it also represents the entertainment industry, and LA is the entertainment capital of the world,” Jeff Zarrinnam of the Hollywood Sign Trust said Monday.
The 45-foot-tall sign in the Hollywood Hills above Los Angeles is repainted every decade.
Sherwin-Williams, an Ohio-based painting company, has been selected to take the honors again, opting for an “extra-white” color in a special weather-resistant paint.
“People don’t realize that, you know, when you stand by the sign, each letter is 45 feet high, the length of each letter. But they’re actually about 10 to 15 feet off the ground, too,” Zarrinnam said.
“So some of these guys are, you know, 60, 50 to 60 feet in the air,” he added.
The city has increased security around the site in recent years by investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in high-tech measures such as infrared cameras.
While the board was first established in 1923, it fell into disrepair and was not rehabilitated until 1978 with the help of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner
While the City of Los Angeles owns the land, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce owns the sign
Although there is a fence and no paved path to the sign, some tourists and LA residents have often tried to get close to the iconic letters.
But in recent years, the city has increased security around the site and invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in high-tech measures such as infrared cameras.
The lettering is sturdy and won’t be tarnished even in severe weather—each letter is attached to steel bars that extend 13 feet below the ground.
In total, the sign weighs no less than 225 tons, since the letters are made of corrugated metal.