This page will be about the newer "Supergraphic Billboards" These are the big vinyl signs that the billboard industry likes to attach to the sides of buildings. With the recent additions of digital to our City Skyline, can these vinyl advertisements not be to far in our future? Could these type of signs be coming to your high-rise office building or one of the new condos or, better yet, could they be coming to a historic hotel downtown - The Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, the location of the very first Academy Awards were held, has them?
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, one of the most prominent architectural landmarks on Hollywood Blvd., was built in 1927 and hosted the very first Academy Awards two years later.
It gained fame as the haunt of such movie stars as Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard and others. Designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, the 12-story hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources.
Owned by Thompson Hotels, a boutique hotel chain based in New York, the Hollywood Roosevelt first sported huge supergraphic ads in 2006. The company that installed these 6,000 sq. ft. plus ads, In Plain Site Media, was cited by the city’s Department of Building and Safety for failing to obtain permits or inspections for the signs. The company then applied to the city for permits. Last July, the Cultural Heritage Commission voted to deny the application, but one of the supergraphic signs still remains on the east side
A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction blocking Los Angeles from cracking down on as many as 34 “supergraphics,” multistory vinyl signs that have been draped across the sides of buildings in violation of the city’s billboard ban.
In a ruling last week, U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins ordered the city to stop prosecuting Insite Outdoor Works LA and World Wide Rush until the companies have a chance to challenge the city’s outdoor advertising laws.
Collins said the plaintiffs showed that they had a likelihood of winning the lawsuit, which argues that the city’s 2002 billboard ban violates the 1st Amendment. The judge also threw into question the legality of the city’s policy of keeping billboards away from freeways.
The city’s billboard rules are being challenged in more than a dozen lawsuits. Insite and ...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lisa Hansen (Weiss) 213 473-7005
Signs can interfere with firefighter access and increase danger.
LOS ANGELES – New concerns about public and life safety issues posed by supergraphic advertising on buildings have prompted Councilmember Jack Weiss to direct the Fire Department to conduct sweeps to identify signs that threaten the public, and today he proposed changes to City laws to specifically ban unsafe materials and installation.
“Supergraphics are going up all around the City and the advertising...
Almost a year ago, city building inspectors raised this issue at a meeting of the Board of Building and Safety Commissioners. These huge signs wrapped over the entire sides of buildings and covering windows could impede firefighters in an emergency, they said. And because almost all the signs have been put up without permits or inspections, they added, there isn’t any way to know if the material or manner of installation meets fire safety standards.
Now, City Councilman Jack Weiss wants the fire department to conduct...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lisa Hansen (Weiss) 213 473-7005
