There are differing opinions on why the H fell. Some say bad weather knocked it over and others claim a truck drove into it . But either way, it needed fixing. Since it started as an ad, the original idea in 1949 was just to tear it down altogether. But by then it had become such a fixture in town that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce decided to take over maintenance and ownership, according to Salon. They repaired the sign, but cut the "land," changing it to just "Hollywood" to stop it from referencing one specific housing development.