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Hollywood 'Walk of Fame' gets much-needed makeover
2008-07-23
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Hundreds of dilapidated stars on Hollywood's "Walk of Fame" are getting a much-needed four-million-dollar makeover ahead of the landmark's 50th anniversary, a business group said. Of the 2,365 stars embedded in the sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, about 800 are considered in poor or very poor condition, according to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which aims to replace several of the pink terrazzo and bronze stars between now and 2010. Although demonstration stars were installed in 1958, the "Walk of Fame" was officially launched in November 1960. "The founders of the 'Walk of Fame' could not have imagined that the creation of a sidewalk of stars would become a top attraction that draws millions of visitors from around the world each year," said the chamber's president, Leron Gubler. "It is a treasured piece of Hollywood and it is our deeply felt responsibility to provide for its preservation into the future". A vodka company has was first to step up as a corporate sponsor of the renovation project and will earn its own honorary star on the "Walk of Fame" as a result, the chamber said. Stretching some 2.5 miles (four kilometers) through the cinema quarter of northwest Lost Angeles, the "Walk of Fame" continues to add stars to its already luminescent list of honored celebrities. The actress Holly Hunter, rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner have been immortalized with their own stars in the past month. In 2005, in an unprecedented defacement, thieves made off with the star of actor Gregory Peck by cutting it out of the pavement. It has yet to be recovered.
Hollywood 'Walk of Fame' gets much-needed makeover (2008-07-23)Katzenberg says he's running his own dream factory (2008-05-19)Eisner donates $1.75M to honor professor (2008-02-15)
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