| October 1921 |
The Hollywood Chamber of
Commerce was formed to replace the old Board
of Trade. A five-day membership drive
resulted in 2,517 members. The first order
of business for the new organization was to
raise funds for the grading and installation
of 20,000 seats to create the Hollywood
Bowl. |
| 1932 |
The Santa Claus Lane Parade
was first sponsored by the Chamber. In 1978,
the parade was given a new look, renamed the
Hollywood Christmas Parade and grew to
national prominence as the nation’s largest
celebrity parade with national television
distribution for the first time. |
| 1942 |
To aid the World War II
effort, the Chamber donated its metal Santa
Claus Lane Christmas Tree decorations to
Uncle Sam. Each tree decoration was 16 ft.
tall with 160 lights and weighed 750 pounds. |
| 1949 |
The Chamber entered into an
agreement with the Department of Recreation
and Parks to repair and rebuild the
Hollywood Sign and to remove the “land” so
that it would spell “Hollywood”. The cost
was $4,000. A second restoration was done by
the Chamber in 1973. |
| 1950s |
When the Hollywood Freeway
was being designed by the State Division of
Highways, plans called for only one
Hollywood off ramp. After intense lobbying
by the Chamber, the State agreed to provide
eight Hollywood ramps. |
| 1953 |
The idea for a Hollywood
Walk of Fame was generated by Chamber
members and a committee was formed to pursue
the idea. Following a vote by property
owners to create an assessment district, the
Walk was installed in 1960. In 1962, the
L.A. City Council appointed the Chamber as
the institution to handle additions to the
Walk of Fame. |
| 1972 |
The Chamber recommended
Vermont Ave. as the most appropriate route
for a Los Angeles subway to the valley. It
was not until 1985, after an underground
explosion in the Wilshire area, that the
transportation agency saw the error of its
ways and adopted the route recommended by
the Chamber. |
| 1974 |
Following strong lobbying
efforts by the Chamber, Caltrans widened the
Hollywood Freeway from Hollywood Blvd. to
the Pilgrimage Bridge to eliminate a major
bottleneck. |
| 1978 |
The Hollywood Sign had
deteriorated to such a level that it could
no longer be rehabilitated, The Chamber
formed a “Save the Sign” Committee and
raised $250,000 in 32 days to completely
replace and rebuild the Sign. |
| 1985 |
The Chamber raised $150,000
to pay for a feasibility study to create a
redevelopment district in Hollywood. |
| 1986 |
The Chamber was the leading
proponent of the need for a Hollywood
Municipal Courthouse, which opened in 1986. |
| 1992 |
The Chamber lobbied
successfully for City funding of private
security patrols on Hollywood Blvd. |
| 1995 |
The Chamber raised $62,000
to fund a study to create a business
improvement district on Hollywood Blvd. The
Chamber worked with Councilmember Goldberg
and the Hollywood Entertainment District was
successfully initiated in 1996. |
| 1996 |
The Chamber hired a
publicist and launched a campaign to change
the media’s perception of Hollywood. As a
result, numerous positive stories were
printed on the Hollywood renaissance. |
| 1997 |
The Chamber launched its new
foundation to give back to the community. To
date, more than $250,000 in grants have been
awarded to Hollywood nonprofit agencies. |
| 1998-99 |
The Chamber acted as the
lead agency in organizing community support
to testify at public hearings in support of
long-sought projects at Hollywood &
Highland, Sunset & Vine, and the
CineramaDome Entertainment Center. Each of
these projects was built. |
| 1999 |
The Chamber lobbied hard for
passage of AB1695 (Knox), which was very
effective in reducing pimping and
prostitution on public sidewalks. |
| 2000 |
A project spearheaded by the
Chamber to erect 46 historic markers at a
cost of $250,000 in Hollywood was completed. |
| 2001 |
A Hollywood tourism
promotional video was completed by the
Chamber. The project was funded by the
Hollywood Sign Trust. |
| 2002 |
The Chamber organized its
first media information center to assist
with press coverage of Hollywood in
connection with the Academy Awards. |
| 2003 |
The Chamber launched a new
website, Explorehollywood.com, to promote
Hollywood tourism. |
| 2004 |
The Chamber commissioned a
study to convince the Motion Picture Academy
that Hollywood should be the home for their
proposed museum. |
| 2005 |
The Chamber worked on
legislation to create a Hollywood
statistical area that would require the
reporting of demographic data on the
community. |
