Groups fighting to save Cahuenga Peak have another 16 days to do so.
(Catherine Cloutier)

Preservationists and community members gathered just yards away from the now-iconic Hollywood sign in Beachwood Canyon on Wednesday for the announcement that they will have 16 more days to raise money to save Cahuenga Peak from real estate development.  

The "Save the Peak" campaign, sponsored largely by Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge and the Trust for Public Land, a national land preservation agency, is just $1.5 million shy of the peak's $12.5 million price tag.

"We're going to make it," LaBonge said during the news conference.  "We're a little short, but we're going to make it."

LaBonge has spent nine years gathering both public and private funds amounting to $5.3 million for the land's purchase.  The City of Los Angeles has been working with the Trust for Public Land to garner the remainder of the funding.

"We have more momentum now than we did when we started," said Will Rogers, the president of the Trust for Public Land.  "This is the opportunity for everyone to step up and close that last gap.  It's very, very doable."

Increasing that momentum is a $500,000 Challenge Grant from the Tiffany & Co. Foundation and Hollywood resident Aileen Getty to be donated if the campaign can raise $1 million in the upcoming 16 days.

"Cahuenga Peak is the jewel of Los Angeles," said Fernanda Kellogg, the president of the Tiffany & Co. Foundation.  "So, what an opportunity to come in and be involved to save this incredible place."

The campaign has received several other private donations in its push to save the peak.

The Hollywood studios--the industry that made the sign the icon it is today--donated a combined $3 million dollars to save it from the encroachment of development.

Local community members have also donated money to the cause.  

On Saturday, residents rallied together to raise $9,000 toward the purchase of the peak by holding a concert sponsored by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

Beachwood Canyon residents Elaine Michaels and Betty Pettit launched a "Pies for the Peak" campaign, which raised $2,200 in one day.

"Any time a community puts this much effort into something, I think living in the community it becomes part of who you are as a resident, as a citizen," said Pete Aspluand, a Beachwood Canyon resident.

Aspluand said that Beachwood Canyon community members often hike on Cahuenga Peak.  The area is also home to butterflies, the coast horned lizard, and Plummer's mariposa lily.

"It's the one unspoiled area in this congested city.  Drive one mile up from Franklin and you're in paradise.  That's a really important thing to cherish and preserve.  There's nothing better to fight for," said Fran Reichenbach, the founder of the Beachwood Canyon Neighborhood Association.

That untouched paradise remains so because of an unfortunate romance.

The Hollywood sign was erected in 1923.  Then reading "Hollywoodland," it was built as an advertisement for Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler's newest venture: an upscale real estate development.

In 1940, Howard Hughes bought the land.  The past two decades had increased the popularity of the sign, and Hughes deemed it the perfect place to settle down with his intended wife, movie star Ginger Rogers.  

But the relationship ended before the house was built.  Still undeveloped when Hughes died in 1976, the land remained in his estate for 20 years.

The property was put on the market in 2002.  The City of Los Angeles attempted to purchase it, but due to funding deficiencies, it was eventually sold to a Chicago development group, according to the Trust for Public Land.

It was listed for sale again in 2008 at a price of $22 million.  The faltering real estate market almost halved that price, and in April 2009, the Trust for Public Land was able to secure a one-year option to purchase the land.

That year ended on Wednesday.  

But Rogers credits the momentum of the campaign for the 16-day extension. 

"We have talks going on with foundations and with individuals.  We're pulling out all the stops," Rogers said.  "We're taking this deadline very seriously."

The over-arching sentiment at the announcement was hope.  Though the campaign remains $1.5 million from success, it has the time needed to get there.

Paraphrasing the movie Gone With the Wind, LaBonge said to the crowd, "After all, there's another day.  We got another day, ladies and gentlemen."