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| A study claims many athletic records are approaching their
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One of the world's most famous landmarks, the
82-year-old Hollywood sign perched high above Los Angeles, is to follow
Tinseltown tradition and get a face lift, officials said.
The giant letters spelling out the word that is synonymous with movie
production will undergo a little restoration and some cleaning, followed
by several weeks of painting for the first time in 10 years.
Like many inhabitants of the city they overlook, the huge white letters
that stand 13.6 meters in height and which are 10.9 meters wide originally
need the occasional work done to maintain its appearance.
Two firms Red Diamond Coatings, a manufacturer of architectural
coatings, and Bay Cal Commercial Painting, are donating their time and
materials to the project, which is set to start Monday.
Between them, the firms will remove dirt, rust and bubbling from the
letters before a rust
inhibitor primer is applied along with 1,140 liters of a
white, fire-resistant coating.
"The Hollywood Sign Trust is grateful to Red Diamond and Bay Cal for
their generous contribution to help keep the Hollywood sign looking its
best for years to come," said Chris Baumgart, chairman of the nine-member
trust.
The Hollywood sign was first erected in 1923 and was declared a
Cultural Historical Monument in 1973.
Erected by Harry Chandler, the publisher of the Los Angeles Times, to
advertise land for new homes, the sign originally had four extra letters
and read "Hollywoodland."
The letters were only meant to be in place for a year and a half, but
remained and in 1949 the local chamber of commerce decided to remove the
then-decrepit sign's last four letters stripping the sign down to read
"Hollywood."
Built for an initial cost of 21,000 dollars, the remaining white
letters have since become an international symbol for the mystique of
Hollywood and film-making.
(Agencies) |
座落在洛杉磯市郊山頂上的HOLLYWOOD標志已有82年歷史，是當今世界最著名的地標之一。當地官員介紹說，這個標志即將依照Tinseltown的傳統，即將進行修整翻新。
這些巨大的字母拼寫而成的HOLLYWOOD是美國電影工業的標志，有關部門已決定對這些字母進行修補和清洗，還要粉刷幾個星期，這是10年來第一次大規模維護。
這些巨大的白色英文字母高13.6米、寬10.9米，它們的外表就像它們腳下這座城市的廣大居民一樣，也需要進行不定期的維護。
建筑涂層生產商紅鉆石涂層公司和Bay Cal商業涂料公司將投入大量的時間和材料來完成這項工程，開工日期訂在周一。
這兩家公司的技術人員首先將清除大字表面的污垢、鐵銹和氣泡，然后粉刷一層添加了防銹劑的底漆，再用1140升白色防火漆將它重新粉刷一新。
“好萊塢標志保護委員會非常感謝這兩家公司的慷慨出資，讓好萊塢標志在未來保持最佳的形象，”好萊塢標志保護委員會主席克里斯·勃嘎特說。這個保護委員會共有9名成員。
好萊塢標志最早是在1923年建成的。1973年，被評為美國文化歷史遺跡。
這個標志是《洛杉磯時報》的發行商哈里·錢德勒修建的，當時是為了吸引人們前來買地興建家園，所以最早的廣告比現在要多四個字母，寫的是Hollywoodland（好萊塢莊園）。
這些字母本來只打算在這里放上一年半，可是因為各種原因，這個標志竟一直保留了下來。到1949年，當地商會決定去掉當時已經破舊不堪的最后四個字母，成為我們今天所見到的Hollywood。
這個標志建造初期的成本只有2.1萬美元，而如今它們已經成為一個國際性的標志，標志著好萊塢和電影制作的奧妙。
(中國日報網站薛曉文編譯) |
Updated: 2005-11-09 09:23
