Nearly six years after her untimely death at the hand of a billboard painter, Kent Twitchell's "Old Woman of the Freeway" is coming back to life in a resurrection that is being hailed as pivotal in preserving other California public artworks from destruction.

Restoration of the famed Freeway Lady mural, which loomed above the Hollywood Freeway near downtown before it was suddenly painted over in 1986, will begin in the next few months following a settlement reached Wednesday that ended more than four years of litigation.

The 11th-hour settlement (a trial date had been set for the following morning) was hailed by the arts community Thursday as a precedent-setting move that should legitimize murals as artworks of value and guard against the loss of future public art.

Under the settlement, Twitchell will receive $175,000, including $125,000 to restore the mural and $50,000 in attorney's fees.

"This is a victory for all artists, and not just public artists," said Amy Neiman, Twitchell's attorney. "This sends a real clear message to landowners that the rights of artists and the value that art contributes to society can't be ignored. You can't just cavalierly remove someone's artwork."

The mural, which depicts a bright-eyed elderly woman wearing a colorful afghan, was painted in 1974 as part of a county art program funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Twitchell, a Los Angeles artist recognized as one of the world's most important muralists, selected a wall of the 25-room Prince Hotel at 125 W. Temple Street as the site because of its visibility from the 101 Freeway, and was given permission to paint the mural by the building's owners.

A few years later, a small public outcry resulted when a parking garage was built adjacent to the Prince Hotel, obscuring more than half the mural. But no steps to save the work were taken until it was entirely--and without notice to Twitchell--covered over in 1986. The underlying mural is believed to be intact, and conservators restored a small portion (which was soon painted over again by the building owner) a couple of years ago to prove that the work could be saved.

Earl Steen, attorney for building owners Koichi Kurokawa and the Prince Hotels Inc., called the whole incident "unfortunate" and said that Kurokawa learned the hard way about the value of the artwork on his property.