Hollywood Sign Makeover
Airdate
:
11/15/2005
INSIDE EDITION has frequently covered Hollywood facelifts, but this is the first time it has participated in one. Stacy Gualandi, an INSIDE EDITION reporter, was the only member of the media asked to help paint the Hollywood sign, the iconic landmark made famous in countless movies and TV commercials.
Gualandi was the first crew member to brave the scaffolding, wielding a brush, or, in this case, roller. Though she was equipped with a safety harness, she still found it nerve-wracking. Even the experienced crew prayed before tackling the job.
"My job is to paint the second L, and that means being hoisted 46 feet in the air," Gualandi says. "It takes the nerves of a Hollywood stunt-woman, because the letters are perched on the top a mountain and I'm balancing on a narrow ledge."
The 82 year-old Hollywood sign is getting a facelift that began last week. Last refreshed in 1995, this latest makeover will take over 300 gallons of paint and a crew of seven. The makeover is being donated by Red Diamond Coatings and Bay Cal Commercial Painting, and it began with a renovation that will take several weeks to complete. The facelift is expected to be unveiled in early December as a holiday gift to the community.
In 1973, the Hollywood sign was declared a Los Angeles Cultural Historical Monument, and in 1978 the Hollywood Sign Trust was formed to maintain and repair the Hollywood sign and to raise the funds needed for those projects.
