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Does it seem feasible that the city of West Hollywood would condone the demolition of a historical landmark?
The idea that a city that normally prides itself on the preservation of of historic structures would turn a blind eye when a developer plans to bulldoze a complex that houses one of Hollywood's earliest and most acclaimed studios seems on the outside to be preposterous, but that is exactly what is about to happen.
At the heart of a growing controversy in the land where dreams are created as fast as they are destroyed is the famed Pickford-Fairbanks Studios where such movies as Some Like It Hot, The Thief of Bagdad, Guys and Dolls, and even select scenes from Star Wars (Episode 4: A New Hope) were filmed.
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“This is a sacrilege – do the greedy people threatening this not have any pride in the history of Hollywood? Do they not have any respect and pride for the founders of motion pictures, Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford ? The Save Pickford-Fairbanks studios must stop this from happening – it is obliterating history and the legacy that Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford left.” — Daphne Fairbanks
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In the early 50s, against Pickford's will (Griffith and Fairbanks were by then deceased), the studio and company were sold. It passed hands several times before being purchased by Sky Partners in 1999 and renaming it’ The Lot’. Since then Sky Partners has been doing all they can to facilitate the demolition of the historic studio. Skye has sold to CIM Group who plans to raze all historic buildings, with of course, the approval of the West Hollywood City Council. Even though these are historical buildings and legally protected as such, the Los Angeles City Council does not care. Land is valuable in this big and overcrowded town; and they want it. As of April 2012 CIM plans to destroy all the historic buildings. It is history they mean to destroy film lovers, we must band together and let them know that we will not stand by idly; they should not be allowed to destroy film history without a fight.
Sign the online petition - Save Pickfair Studios!
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How can you help? Well you need to make your voice heard by contacting the powers behind this travesty. Who should you contact? Well we have a list for you:
CIM Group
6922 Hollywood Blvd. 9th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90028
P.323.860.4900
F.323.860.4901
Karen Diehl
Casey & Sayre
11835 W. Olympic Blvd.
Suite 1285
Los Angeles, CA 90064
p 310.473.8090
f 310.473.8291
Bill Mendel
Mendel Communications
1841 Broadway
Suite 1009
New York, NY 10023
p 212.397.1030
f 212.974.0705
City of West Hollywood City Council
8300 Santa Monica Boulevard
Hours of Operation: Mon-Thurs 8am - 6pm; Fridays 8am - 5pm.
Telephone: (323) 848-6400 (323) 848-6400
Phone: (323) 848-6460
Email: ccouncil@weho.org
Mayor John J Duran: jduran@weho.org
Mayor Elect Jefferey Prang: jprang@weho.org
Councilmember John D’Amico: jdamico@weho.org
John Heilmen: jheilman@weho.org
Councilmember Abby Land: aland@weho.org
Sr Planner Contreras: fcontreras@weho.org
Sr Planner Degrazia: ddegrazia@weho.org
Awesome article! Please! Sign the petition!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this. Yes, time is of the essence. And CIM as well as the West Hollywood Mayor and council are feeling the heat generated by our group and it's vast number of supporters. The Fairbanks Estate and all members of the Fairbanks family are in support and doing all that they can to help us stop this before it's too late.
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