From Dave DeCaro’s glorious archive comes this vibrant (Kodachrome, I assume) photo looking south down Gower St toward RKO studios at the Melrose Ave corner. It was taken in 1954, when the studio was still producing movies, albeit chaotically under Howard Hughes’ haphazard management, and a year before General Tire and Rubber acquired the company. But the studio’s iconic radio tower and globe still stood on the roof of Stage 21 at the Melrose/Gower corner.
This is roughly the same angle in December 2022. The radio tower is long gone, but the globe is still there. The studio lot now belongs to RKO’s neighbor, Paramount, who have announced a major refurbishment that—currently, at least—calls for the demolition of Stage 21 which means, unfortunately, the loss of the globe.
Tell me no. They can’t destroy a landmark like that. What the hell is wrong with those folks and why aren’t people fighting that demolition? They need to restore it including putting the tower back up where it belongs. What in the hell is happening to Hollywood!!!!!
I would like to think that they would find a way of moving the globe to somewhere else on the lot. But the tower would have been a menace during an earthquake, so I”m not surprised it’s gone.
Welcome back home!!!! Hope you had a spectacular time
It goes to show we live in a throw away society. Look how they demolished the legendary MGM and Fox backlots. Once something is no longer useful, they seemingly just discard it. A crying shame!