Group still needs millions for Hollywood sign land

[March 12, 2010]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- It's a Hollywood cliffhanger, in more ways than one.

The Trust for Public Land said Thursday it's about $3 million away from the $12.5 million it needs to buy and preserve hilltop property beside the world-famous Hollywood sign. Its purchase option expires April 14.

The group says nearly all the major TV and movie studios are among the contributors to the roughly $9.5 million it has raised through donations and government grants.

Steven Spielberg, Lucasfilm Foundation and Tom Hanks also contributed.

The group hopes to buy the land from its Chicago-area owners and give it to the city so it can be incorporated into the adjacent, 4,200-acre Griffith Park.

[Associated Press]

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