continued - Charter Helicopter Tour
Story and Photos by Mike Russell
The tallest building in Los Angeles is also the tallest building west of the Mississippi.
| 1. US Bank Tower | 1,017.06 ft |
| 2. AON Building | 859.58 ft |
| 3. Two California Plaza | 751.31 ft |
| 4. Gas Company Tower | 748.03 ft |
| 5. Bank of California Plaza | 734.90 ft |
| 6. 777 Tower | 725.06 ft |
| 7. Wells Fargo Tower | 721.78 ft |
To take a most interesting look at downtown Los Angeles you can go to the internet and look at http://www.downtownla.com/mapContainer.html. Here you will see each and every building and street. We flew around the area and stared in awe at all the towers and at the variety of sizes and shapes and we wondered if the people working inside those buildings were looking out at us.
Griffith Park Observatory
After a four-year renovation and expansion project, the Griffith Observatory will once again open to the public on Friday, November 3, 2006. Visitors will be invited to come and see the observatory by reservation only as the public interest is expected to be high in the months after reopening. The number to call for reservations is 1-888-695-0888. For additional information, go to: http://www.griffithobs.org/vshuttle.html.
Hollywood Sign
The Hollywood sign is 30 feet wide at its base and is 50 feet high. It stands along the rugged hillside of Mount Lee at the top of Beachwood Canyon, in the Hollywood Hills overlooking Hollywood and the City of Los Angeles. It all began back in 1923 when the area was in the midst of a real estate boom. Harry Chandler, then publisher of the Los Angeles Times, and Mack Sennett, who headed up a famous movie studio, had their eyes on making money from real estate investments, and he along with other investors had purchased much of the land of San Fernando Valley. They knew when water became available for the valley the desert lands would blossom in value. The original sign had 1,000’s of light bulbs that enhanced the effect. It was the job of a maintenance man, who lived in a small cabin behind one of the “L’s,” to change the burned out light bulbs.
All went well in the land of opportunity until the 1929 stock market crash. One 24-year-old actress name Peg Entwistle, who had come from the New York stage to make her mark in the land of movies, became dejected after making a couple of so-so films, but had no luck at becoming a star. One sad night she managed to reach the huge signboard. Finding a maintenance ladder, she climbed to the top of the 50 foot “H,” took one last look at her land of dreams and jumped to her death.
From 1923-1931 the sign became a big tourist attraction. By the mid-1940’s the sign’s condition wasn’t good and it was the desire of those who lived in the neighborhood to tear it down. The developers decided to get rid of the last of their land which was a 450-acre plot which included the sign. The developers decided to turn the sign over to the City of Los Angeles.
In 1949 the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce signed a contract with the city parks department to repair and rebuild the sign and when they did, they removed the “land,” portion so that it would spell “Hollywood.” In 1973, famous actress Gloria Swanson sponsored a complete makeover of the sign. It was then declared a historical landmark by the Los Angeles City Cultural Heritage Board.
By 1978, the sign’s condition was in a termite infested state. The letter “O” had fallen down the hill and someone had set fire to the bottom of the letter “L.” The city then decided to rebuild the sign again at a cost of $250,000. At that time the famous Playboy Mansion was turned into a huge party as Hugh Hefner sponsored a fund raiser for the project. Various celebs and community leaders sponsored individual letters at $27,500 each for a total of $247,500. The old sign came down and three months later the new sign was unveiled in November 14, 1978. But this time the letters were only 45 feet tall.
Learn more about the sign at: www.hollywoodsign.org.
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