Nevada town plans statue to honor Howard Hughes

RENO, Nevada - Howard Hughes could have tied the knot with the Hollywood glamour girl anywhere in the world. But the billionaire's obsession with privacy prompted him to marry actress Jean Peters in the remote mining town of Tonopah 50 years ago Friday. After failing in an effort to save the improbable site of the secret Jan. 12, 1957, wedding — the L&L Motel — a group of Tonopah residents has announced plans to commemorate the event by building a life-size statue of the couple. The group led by Tonopah businessman Bob Perchetti also is pursuing plans to open a Howard Hughes Museum and Wedding Chapel across the street from where the motel stood until it was razed about 18 months ago after the town board decided it would be too expensive to restore. The plans are designed not only to recognize Hughes but to help draw tourists to the struggling town of 2,800 surrounded by stark mountains and sage brush on US Highway 95 about halfway between Reno and Las Vegas, more than a 200-mile drive in either direction. "There's a mystique about Howard Hughes, just like there is about Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley," said Perchetti, chairman of the town's mural and monument committee. Perchetti hopes to turn the old brick building across the street from the L&L site into the museum, which would feature exhibits on the mysterious wedding and Hughes' role in Nevada history. He hopes to erect the statue at the L&L site, which is being considered for a new firehouse. "It'll be a life-size statue of Howard Hughes and Jean Peters looking into each other's eyes and appearing as they did when they got married," Perchetti said. Hughes and Peters registered for the marriage license under fictitious names and got married at the L&L to avoid publicity. The couple flew in and out of Tonopah that day from Southern California, with the entire stay lasting about two hours. Only a handful of Hughes' aides knew about it, and the news media didn't learn about it until months later. - GMANews.TV