The Region - News from Sept. 29, 1985

The City Council will consider a proposed settlement for a $1.2-million lawsuit that accused the city of failing to maintain the historic Watts Towers. The city’s Finance and Revenue Committee has approved the proposed settlement of a 7-year-old suit brought by the Committee for Simon Rodia’s Towers in Watts. It would establish an $800,000 trust fund to finance a 5-year restoration effort, provide $50,000 to help form a fund-raising group and pay more than $360,000 in attorneys’ fees. An attorney for the Center for Law in the Public Interest, which has been representing the Watts group, said the committee’s approval indicates the city is finally willing to accept responsibility for the towers, which were bought by the city in 1975.