Los Angeles skies will be lit once more with the sign of the Hotel Californian. The famous neon sign which stood atop the Los Angeles hotel from 1927 to 1995 was lit again on Thursday as part of a ribbon cutting ceremony for The Paseo at Californian, a new 53 apartment low- income housing complex.
The project was built on the same site along West 6th Street in the Westlake district where the hotel once stood. The hotel was demolished after a fire in 1995 and the sign was placed in storage.
Neon sign restoration specialist Paul Greenstein told Curbed Los Angeles that the sign was bent, rusted and riddled with graffiti when he began the restoration process three years ago. But he saw remnants of the original sign that made him believe restoration was possible.
Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo, who helped spearhead the project in his district for more than two years, told NBC4 that the inclusion of the sign made the already important project even more special.
"It’s part of respecting our history and acknowledging it, but it’s also building for the future," Cedillo said.
In a press conference on Thursday, Mayor Eric Garcetti said he would make the construction of more affordable housing a priority during his second term as mayor.
