Project forces removal of Walk of Fame stars

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s another story of stoned celebrities in rehab. Only these are real stars.

Sixty-one stars from the Hollywood Walk of Fame — including those of Charlton Heston, Cary Grant, Clark Gable and Frank Sinatra — have been removed and stored while a $500 million hotel-shopping-housing project is built on Vine Street near Hollywood Boulevard.

Eight of the terrazzo star squares crumbled as they were removed from the walkway.

“We saved the brass. They’ll be rebuilt,” said Tim Maxwell, project manager for Webcor Builders, which is involved in the construction project.

The stars were placed in a secure warehouse, where they’ll remain until the project is completed in 2009.