You could see it on their faces. When you looked at tourists arriving on Hollywood Boulevard for the first time, you could almost read their minds: "This is Hollywood?" Looking around, they were shocked and disappointed.

For decades, Hollywood was a major disappointment, a case study in urban decay and neglect - a seedy, run-down area populated by a virtual freak-show of young runaways, homeless transients, wannabe heavy-metal rockers, frenzied traffic, and harried crowds of bewildered tourists wandering the dirty sidewalks while trying to find some hint of former glamour left on the famous boulevard.

For the most part, the Boulevard contained one shabby storefront after another, some vacant, but most housing tacky shops offering t-shirts & cheap Tinseltown souvenirs, fast food, and the occasional x-rated movie. (And that's not to mention the giant, pink & grey Frederick's of Hollywood building.) This is definitely not what springs to mind when most tourists think of "Hollywood."

True glamour has always awaited tourists a few miles to the west, of course, in Beverly Hills, but the actual Hollywood area - the downtown shopping district centered around Hollywood Boulevard - had degenerated from a cozy small town to into a bad dream of urban blight.

But no matter what anyone says, the curious still flocked to that famous street by the millions. Like it or not, Hollywood Boulevard was the official "center" of Hollywood.

While it wasn't always obvious to a casual visitor on the Boulevard, if you knew where to look, there have always been quite a few precious jewels of Old Hollywood buried beneath the ash heap that the Boulevard had become. It would be a shame to miss them..

But the great news today is that the old town finally seems to be getting its act together, and appears to be undergoing the kind of renaissance that has been predicted for years. This time, there genuinely appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel. The signs seem clear. The long-awaited rebirth of Hollywood is well under way.

Take, for example, the historic Egyptian Theatre, the first grand movie palace built in Hollywood (back in 1922).

For decades the Egyptian sat on Hollywood Boulevard like an abandoned ruin - closed and in a sad state of disrepair - as did many other former Hollywood landmarks. There were huge holes in its walls, and homeless people camped out inside the former theatre. But in 1998 the Egyptian got a major make-over which restored the classic theatre to its former glory. It reopened in 1999 as the new home to American Cinematheque.

If that were an isolated example, we wouldn't get our hopes up. But there is far more afoot along the Boulevard. Slowly but surely, the fabled street is being restored:

• A few years ago, the Disney company restored the El Capitan Theatre, and they did a wonderful job - complete with uniformed ushers and live stages shows (featuring Disney characters) before many movie screenings. The theatre looks fabulous, and has attracted long lines of eager customers ever since. It is now the single most profitable theatre in the country. Recently, the company added a new Disney Store right next door.
  
  
• The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is another restored jewel. Just across the street from the Chinese Theatre, this was the site of the very first Academy Awards banquet. It had languished for years, but now gleams again with its original luster.
  
  
• The Pantages Theatre at Hollywood & Vine reopened in 2000, dazzling after a $10 million facelift, has been home to Disney's hit Broadway musical, "The Lion King", and will next host Mel Brooks' hit musical "The Producers".
  
  
• Right next door to the Egyptian Theatre, the landmark Pig 'N Whistle restaurant (a favorite of Shirley Temple, Judy Garland and other stars of Hollywood's Golden Age) has been restored to its original luster. It reopened in 2001, after half a century of neglect.
  
  
• And there are new projects as well. The new Hollywood Entertainment Museum opened just west of the Chinese Theatre. And while it's not the grand museum Hollywood deserves, it offers a number of interesting exhibits, including the original bar from "Cheers", the office set from "The X-Files" and the command bridge from "Star Trek: TNG."
  
  
• Opening recently at the historic Max Factor building was the new Hollywood History Museum and a new Mel's Diner.
  
  
• Another new $70 million project was built around the classic Cinerama Dome, offering the new ArcLight theatres, shops and restaurants.
  
  
• Farther south, at the corner of Third & Fairfax, next to the historic Farmers Market, they've opened "The Grove", a spectacular new outdoor shopping center which offers shopping, al fresco dining, fountains, theatres, and even a brass trolley ride - all in a charming ambiance which mixes elements of Two Rodeo and Disneyland.
  

• New restaurants and clubs are luring celebrities back to downtown Hollywood.
  
  
• Two new museums opened a few years back: Guinness' World Record Museum and Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, adding more pieces to the Boulevard puzzle.
  
  
• A successful investment firm, the CIM Group, which has previously placed well-known retail stores in Old Pasadena and on the Third Street Promenade, has taken an interest in the Boulevard. They're investing $100 million in buying up various parcels on the street, wagering that it will soon take off the way those other two venues have. "There is a tremendous movement to the street," said a CIM founder, "Right now, the market has embraced it." Their plans include building a six-screen Laemmle theater at Hollywood & Cherokee Ave., and overhauling the former Hollywood Galaxy center - already they have brought in a new nightclub called the Knitting Factory.
  
  
• But best of all, is the "Hollywood & Highland," a massive new project which takes up the entire block east of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre. This 1-million-square-foot, $600 million retail and movie complex by TrizecHahn Corp. (the developer of San Diego's Horton Plaza), is an open-air entertainment complex similar to CityWalk or Two Rodeo. It includes restaurants, clubs, unique shops, even a new subway station. But perhaps most importantly, it is home to the new state-of-the-art Kodak theatre which now serves as the permanent home to the annual Academy Awards show. When Hollywood throws its annual celebration, Oscar Night, it will now take place in the actual heart of Hollywood.

This project could well be the crown jewel which finally turns the Boulevard around (much as Times Square in New York was transformed after Disney opened the revived New Amsterdam theatre there).

Add it all up and Hollywood's future is looking brighter than it has in decades.

The only remaining problem is what lies in between the various new attractions: dozens of sordid little souvenir shops with garish facades and outlandish prices.

But already, retail rents are rising in the area, and the new Hollywood & Highland project promises to create a level of commercial interest where upscale tenants will scramble to find a new place on the reborn boulevard, pushing out the tacky little shops now lining the street.

Phone: For more information by phone, you can call The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce at: (323) 469-8311. That number will put you in touch with the Hollywood InfoCenter, a recorded service that provides touch-button phone information about Hollywood attractions and upcoming Hollywood events.

 Getting there: To reach Hollywood Boulevard from downtown Los Angeles, take the Hollywood (101) Freeway north to the Hollywood Boulevard exit, then head west (about a mile and a half) to Grauman's Chinese Theatre, which will be on your right (north) side.