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| Photo Credit: AP. |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Hollywood sign is getting a makeover befitting its status as a Tinseltown icon.
After a
pressure-wash and some rust removal, workers this week began using 250 gallons
(946 liters) of primer and white paint to spruce up the sign ahead of its
centennial next year.
The entire
renovation effort is expected to take up to eight weeks.
Originally
built in 1923, the sign read “Hollywoodland” to promote a property development.
But after
decades of neglect, the original sign was shortened to read “Hollywood” and
then was replaced altogether with a new sign in 1978.
“It’s now
representing not only the place of Hollywood, but it signifies the
entertainment industry, and LA is the entertainment capital of the world,” Jeff
Zarrinnam with the Hollywood Sign Trust said Monday.
The
45-foot-tall (13-meter) sign in the Hollywood Hills above Los Angeles is
repainted every decade.
This story
has been corrected to show that the original sign was shortened before the 1978
replacement.