The Hyatt Century Plaza, one of the nation’s most iconic hotels and architectural landmarks, has become the target of preservationists who want to save the 43-year-old Los Angeles property from demolition. Earlier this week, the hotel—long known just as the Century Plaza until Hyatt assumed management a few years ago—was the headliner as the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced its annual list of America’s 11 most endangered historic places. To further emphasize the hotel’s status as first among equals on the list, the announcement was made by actress Diane Keaton across the street from the property in Century City.

The local press, particularly the Los Angeles Times, as well as several neighborhood groups and the Los Angeles Conservancy, have been vocal in their opposition to the demise of the Century Plaza. The owners, local investor Michael Rosenfeld and the D.E. Shaw Group, want to raze the property and replace it with two 600-foot-tall mixed-use towers, one of which will contain a 260-room hotel. The hotel will be designed by a firm founded by I.M. Pei, architect of one of Century City’s original apartment buildings. While the investors say they want the development to open by 2015, major hurdles lie in their way. First, in this economic environment, financing for the $2-billion project will be difficult to arrange. Also, Los Angeles city officials need to approve the project, not a certainty given the depth of local and now national opposition.

The Century Plaza Hotel opened in 1966 and quickly became the city’s power hotel for the rich and famous and, most particularly, presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Minoru Yamasaki, who later designed New York’s World Trade Center, was lead architect for the hotel. Its sweeping curved design and gold anodized aluminum façade won the 726-room property accolades from both travelers and the architectural community.

Sunstone Hotel Investors bought the hotel in 2005 and spent $36 million on a renovation and conversion to the Hyatt brand. (Westin and its predecessor company Western International had operated the hotel since its opening.) Last year, Sunstone sold it to Rosenfeld’s group for $366.5 million, or $505,000 per room.