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Critics Sue to Stop Hollywood Project That Would Demolish Amoeba Music Building

Amoeba Music on Sunset Boulevard is seen on Dec. 8, 2011. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Weeks after Los Angeles officials gave the green light for a new development on the Hollywood site now occupied by Amoeba Music, critics are suing the city to stop it, arguing that it would tear down a “cultural resource” that deserves protection.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the Coalition to Preserve L.A., a group critical of how the city handles planning and development, are also pushing the city to enshrine the distinctive murals and neon art at the Sunset Boulevard site as part of a historic monument.

Doing so would make it harder to tear down the building, which boasts a Space Age neon turret, an old-fashioned marquee, and murals inside and outside the structure.

L.A. “is giving short shrift to the historic significance of Amoeba by completely ignoring the rich and lengthy cultural history associated with this iconic corner of Hollywood,” AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein said in a statement Wednesday.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.