STORY:
Hollywood Sign Will Shine on NYE

Extravaganza being planned for famous sign that's been dark for 16 years

With laser lights and flaming skydivers, the famous Hollywood Sign will shine on New Year's Eve for the first time in 16 years. The 45-foot-high letters that sit high on a hillside above Hollywood California will be lit up for 45 minutes beginning at 11:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve.

There are plans for ground lights to shine on the letters, a cloud screen for a laser show and skydivers carrying flares down to the site and city leaders would like to see the entire event broadcasted.

"This is our Times Square, our Statue of Liberty, our Eiffel Tower," Recreation and Parks Commission President Steve Soboroff reportedly said. But not everyone is happy with the plan. Local residents reportedly told the commissioners who approved the idea that they are inviting disaster with "inebriated and deranged people" flocking to the sign. The mayor of Los Angeles, Richard Riordan supports the plan and will be approving city money to pay for the lighting ceremony.

The big white letters that spell "Hollywood" were first erected in 1923 as an advertisement for the city and haven't been illuminated since the 1984 Summer Olympic games.

Source: Associated Press

DATE: 9/17/99

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