Is This Any Way to Treat a Star? : Landmarks: Plaques on the Hollywood Walk of Fame are being uprooted as the next phase of Red Line construction starts.
Scores of celebrities will temporarily lose their stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as stretches of the well-worn promenade are bulldozed in the next year to make way for the second leg of the Metro Red Line.
As many as 100 of the brass and terrazzo stars will have to be plucked from the sidewalk and carted off in wooden storage crates when construction begins on two Hollywood subway stations as early as this fall.
“It’s something we’d rather not have happen,†said Johnny Grant, chairman of the Walk of Fame, “but we have to make the best of it.â€
The project is a sensitive one given the flood of tourists drawn to the area on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street and the historic nature of the walkway, which began in 1960 and includes most of Hollywood’s heavyweights--and some of its lightweights too.
Singer Gloria Estefan received the 1,974th star Wednesday; other upcoming honorees include Dick Van Dyke and Patti LaBelle.
To quell any uproar, the removal will be handled delicately to prevent breakage. The stars will be displayed nearby so that Aunt Delilah from Duluth can still get a peek at her favorite celebrity’s marker.
In a test conducted several weeks ago, seven stars were removed to determine whether they could withstand such trauma. Five were returned to their spots, where they will be monitored for cracks and buckling.
The two others--dedicated to actor Barry Fitzgerald and actress Constance Bennett--were the first in the constellation to go into storage, although replacement stars were put back into the sidewalk for old-movie fans.
The wear and tear of foot traffic has cracked some of the aging stars, requiring gentle removal with a forklift.
“We weren’t sure if we’d be able to take them out because we know they’re fragile,†said Jim Sowell, Metro Rail’s manager of environmental compliance. “But the test was successful. We’re still watching them over the next several weeks.â€
The company storing the stars, Cook’s Crating, is no stranger to valuable artifacts. It is the same hauler that the area’s top museums--including the Getty and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art--use to transport Matisses, Picassos and Monets.
The stars that will be affected are those near the intersections of Hollywood and Vine and Hollywood and Highland Avenue, where the two underground stations will be based.
Those stations will have Tinseltown themes of their own. Underneath Hollywood and Vine there will be a yellow-brick road leading to the subway cars, musical notes for the song “Hooray for Hollywood†on the handrails and two old movie projectors from Paramount Studios on display.
Councilman Michael Woo, who represents the area, helped negotiate a $28-million “mitigation package†with the Rail Construction Corp. to keep Hollywood running during the construction. He said the number of stars to be removed and the location where they will be displayed have not yet been decided.
As part of the package, Metro Rail’s builders will provide free parking to those visiting the strip, an ombudsman to handle complaints and signs to let tourists know that businesses are still open during the construction.
Woo called the star removal “a short-term sacrifice for the greater, long-term good of Hollywood.â€
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