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Not Everyone Is In Love With The Giant LED Screen On Top Of The Wilshire Grand

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The Wilshire Grand illuminated with the colors of LA2024 (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
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With the Wilshire Grand just days from opening (and a 5-year era coming to a close), the West Coast's tallest skyscraper (hold the semantic arguments for the comments, please) has been donning its final touches. In early May, the $1.2 billion, 1,100-foot tower lit up for the first time. And when the International Olympic Committee's evaluation delegation arrived that same month, the 73-story tower was peacocking with the colors of the L.A. sunset (re: LA2024's colors). But the light show didn't end there. Over the last few days, a giant LED configuration in the crown of the building has been in testing mode. Spectators may have seen the Korean Air logo on display (Korean Air is a subsidiary of the Hanjin Group, which owns the Wilshire Grand), as well as the Intercontinental Hotel logo, which will operate the tower's hotel.

The brilliance of modern technology aside, not everyone is happy with the outcome (though, is happiness the real goal in life? I digress).

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This isn't to say that others don't love the new spectacle.

To wit: as the towers along Figueroa continue to rise, it's becoming clear that LA Live will become the Times Square of the West (re: a million LED monitors searing overloading your retinas with ads). Just look at these renderings for the Circa towers, Oceanwide Plaza, 1020 South Figueroa, and Apex II. If nothing else, we're happy to see L.A. finally becoming the Blade Runner fantasy we've always dreamed of.If you want to check out the screen in action, the fine people at Urbanize LA have put up a video of the spectacle:

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