Messin' with History

Two factions are battling for long-term lease rights to the 1940-vintage Hollywood Palladium. Sources say one group of bidders favors preservation of the wood floor ballroom--known as the largest in the U.S.-- while the other--a group said to include investors from Hong Kong--intends to transform a major portion of the Palladium into a multi-media studio operation.

Palladium management and the bidders are mum about negotiations. But an insider tells us that several members of the Palladium's board of directors (a consortium of five Hollywood parking lot operators owns the building) became upset over proposed plans to alter the landmark--and are now leaning toward the domestic group that would keep the Palladium as is.

Real estate agent David Cameron, who represents the partly foreign contingent, dismissed the competition's threat: "We have the deal," he insisted. "It's ours . . . it's progressed 98% of the way. We already have the liquor license (and) are waiting for the rest of the permits."

Board member Larry Worschell, acting in the place of Palladium board chairman George Ullman, who died last month, declined to comment on the situation.