Resident Seeks Funds for Tower Records Preservation

A West Hollywood resident began raising money on Monday in an effort to preserve the former Tower Records shop on Sunset Boulevard.

Longtime Weho local Jerome Cleary launched an online fundraising drive in order to hire preservation experts, as those in favor of historic status for the legendary record store prepare an appeal to the City Council.

Last week the city's Historic Preservation Commission denied cultural resource designation for the Tower Records site, which operated from 1971-2006 and logged an abundance of memorable musical moments.

“As music fans we can make (the appeal) happen as a collective spirit to preserve this iconic structure and location, so I hope people will donate whatever they can,” Cleary said in a statement.

Commissioners sided with the city staff recommendation to deny historic status which noted that the building no longer has its original distinguishing characteristics such as the Tower Records sign and red-and-yellow color scheme, NBC Los Angeles reported in March. There also isn't anything special about the building's architecture, according to Weho's planning staff.

"I know the commission is specific about it being architectural, but there are larger, more human reasons," Dominic Priore, author of Riot on the Sunset Strip: Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Last Stand in Hollywood, told NBC. "The location means something, and people can identify with that. Looking at just architecture is the narrow thing to do."

Cleary estimated preservation supporters will make their case to the council in late summer or early fall.