(KTLA-TV / February 15, 2010) |
LOS ANGELES -- Environmentalists have raised $1 million in less than a week to help "Save the Peak" beside the world famous Hollywood sign, but they still need an additional $4 million.
Trust for Public Land President Will Rogers says his group raised $1 million since Thursday to buy the Cahuenga Peak property and save it from development.
The sign itself is owned by the city of Los Angeles, but the 138-acre property around it belongs to a group of investors who acquired rights to build four luxury mansions along the ridgeline.
The group already raised $7 million toward the 138-acre parcel's roughly $12 million asking price before the start of the campaign.
The group hopes to buy the land from its Chicago area-based owners and give it to the city, so it can be incorporated into the adjacent 4,200-acre Griffith Park.
The investors initially planned to sell the land to real estate developers for $22 million, but agreed to turn it over to the nonprofit, "Trust for Public Land" for $12.5 million.
The only condition is that the money must come in before April 14.
The trust -- which over the last 38 years has conserved 2.8 million acres of land across the country to be used for parks, gardens and other natural spaces -- wants to see the ecosystem of native chaparral and animals around the Hollywood sign maintained.
Before the latest campaign, environmentalists raised $7 million to buy the land around the sign, more than half of which came from the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks and Public Works departments. The rest came from private donors, including the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
Councilman Tom LaBonge says the city wants to aquire the land "not only to maintain the view of the Hollywood sign, but also to preserve open space, hiking trails and wildlife corridors" for the future of Los Angeles.
Fox River Financial Resources purchased the mountain site from the estate of Howard Hughes in 2002 for about $1.7 million and had it zoned into four home sites.
The movie producer and industrialist bought the mountaintop in the 1930s and planned to build a love nest there for actress Ginger Rogers, who wanted no part of it.
The "Save the Peak" sign was dismantled Tuesday.
If you're interested in donating, visit www.savehollywoodland.org.
Trust for Public Land President Will Rogers says his group raised $1 million since Thursday to buy the Cahuenga Peak property and save it from development.
The sign itself is owned by the city of Los Angeles, but the 138-acre property around it belongs to a group of investors who acquired rights to build four luxury mansions along the ridgeline.
The group already raised $7 million toward the 138-acre parcel's roughly $12 million asking price before the start of the campaign.
The group hopes to buy the land from its Chicago area-based owners and give it to the city, so it can be incorporated into the adjacent 4,200-acre Griffith Park.
The investors initially planned to sell the land to real estate developers for $22 million, but agreed to turn it over to the nonprofit, "Trust for Public Land" for $12.5 million.
The only condition is that the money must come in before April 14.
The trust -- which over the last 38 years has conserved 2.8 million acres of land across the country to be used for parks, gardens and other natural spaces -- wants to see the ecosystem of native chaparral and animals around the Hollywood sign maintained.
Before the latest campaign, environmentalists raised $7 million to buy the land around the sign, more than half of which came from the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks and Public Works departments. The rest came from private donors, including the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
Councilman Tom LaBonge says the city wants to aquire the land "not only to maintain the view of the Hollywood sign, but also to preserve open space, hiking trails and wildlife corridors" for the future of Los Angeles.
Fox River Financial Resources purchased the mountain site from the estate of Howard Hughes in 2002 for about $1.7 million and had it zoned into four home sites.
The movie producer and industrialist bought the mountaintop in the 1930s and planned to build a love nest there for actress Ginger Rogers, who wanted no part of it.
The "Save the Peak" sign was dismantled Tuesday.
If you're interested in donating, visit www.savehollywoodland.org.
