'Forever Marilyn' may return to Palm Springs in February; plan floated to borrow city funds

The 26-foot tall Marilyn Monroe statue  "Forever Marilyn" could be installed in Palm Springs' historic downtown shopping plaza Town & Country Center as soon as February, PS Resorts Chairman Aftab Dada and Grit Development President Michael Braun said Thursday.

Many details — particularly funding — remain to be firmed up. But Dada said PS Resorts, a hotel and tourism industry group that promotes Palm Springs, has been negotiating with the statue's owner, the Seward Johnson Atelier, to bring the statue back by Modernism Week, which runs Feb. 13-23. 

Dada said the statue — which was on display in the city from 2012 to 2014  — has a "seven-figure" price tag. PS Resorts, he said, currently has about a third of the funds needed to purchase it. PS Resorts plans to raise the remainder, he said, and has had informal discussions with the city about a loan to provide the difference in the meantime. 

PS Resorts would pay back the money "very fast," said Dada, who is the general manager of the Hilton Palm Springs. 

Both Dada and city officials say the location has yet to be decided; in the past, a new downtown park near the art museum was the primary location discussed for the tourist-pleasing statue. 

But Braun, whose company owns Town & Country Center at Palm Canyon Drive just south of Andreas Road, has offered to pay for the installation in Town & Country. Dada pegged the installation costs at "north of $200,000."

Dada said he would meet this week with Chris Mills, the architect behind the original installation of Marilyn at Palm Canyon and Tahquitz Canyon drives, to figure out how the statue could be positioned and situated at Town & Country.

Idea floated for 'bridge loan' from city

Palm Springs City Manager David Ready said he had spoken informally with Dada about helping pay for the statue if PS Resorts raised most of the funds required to purchase it.

“It was pure discussion. The idea was for the city council to consider a bridge loan that could be paid back to the city within a year,” he said Thursday. “It was just an idea and I told (PS Resorts) the council would certainly consider it. But there’s no formal request.”

At his State of the City address on Wednesday at the Plaza Theater, Mayor Rob Moon said the city is “not putting any funds” into the acquisition of the statue.

The city allocates 1% of transient occupancy tax (TOT) revenue to PS Resorts, which uses the funds for marketing to brand the city and attract tourists. If the city were to loan PS Resorts a portion of the funds needed to purchase "Forever Marilyn," Ready said Palm Springs could potentially retain PS Resorts' future TOT allocations until the loan was repaid.

In fiscal 2018-19, total TOT collections were $33.4 million.

Modernism chairman: 'A really bad idea'

The idea to locate the statue at Town & Country Center has raised eyebrows among the city's preservationists and mid-century modern architecture buffs. Moon acknowledged Wednesday the proposal could be "controversial."  

William Kopelk, the chairman of Palm Springs' Modernism Week, said Thursday that while he isn't "anti-Marilyn," putting the statue at Town & Country is "a really bad idea."

The outdoor shopping center, which was built in 1948 and is now owned by Grit, is considered one of the earliest examples of mixed-use development. Preservationists laud it as a gem of mid-century modern architecture and lobbied the city to name it a Class I Historic Site in 2016. 

"I don't think that putting something kitschy with something that is a really good example of mid-century modern architecture is a good fit," Kopelk said. 

As an alternative, Kopelk said "Forever Marilyn" would be better off at a park such as Frances Stevens Park at Palm Canyon Drive and Alejo Road. "Marilyn is a draw wherever you put her," he said. 

Steven Keylon, the vice president of Palm Springs Preservation Foundation, said he's not a fan of the statue and would also rather see it in a park surrounded by open space, than the courtyard of the shopping center.

"I think it'd be more appropriate in a city park where there's more room," he said. "I think it needs space, and if it's in a park, I could see it from a distance."

Keylon also has concerns about what Grit may do with the site overall, which is in a state of disrepair.

"I hope that I'm wrong, and that they're committed to doing a quality restoration with mixed, adaptive, reuse of that site to really reactivate it," he said. "It's really in a prime spot in the core of Palm Springs. ... It's an ideal place to showcase the best modern architecture we have."

Braun courts support from preservationists

Braun said he thinks Town & Country Center is an "absolutely" appropriate site for "Forever Marilyn."

He said a potential tenant for a restaurant at the shopping center told him that Monroe herself had been a guest at a restaurant in the original Town & Country. 

"We will seek full support, blessing and participation from them," he said of the city's preservationist community. 

Dada said Braun had pledged to spend $2 million to $3 million "to get Town & Country ready" for the statue. It is unclear how much a full renovation would cost. 

Grit, the developer behind the Kimpton Rowan hotel and several blocks of new retail storefronts in downtown Palm Springs, was formerly known as Wessman Holdings and run by John Wessman. After the veteran Palm Springs developer became embroiled in an alleged corruption scheme with former Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet, Wessman handed the reins to Braun, his son-in-law, and the company changed its name to Grit. 

Wessman, Pougnet and a third defendant, developer Richard Meaney, have been indicted but have yet to stand trial in the corruption case. 

Statue could be moved later

As owners of "Forever Marilyn," PS Resorts could move the statue if its initial placement turned out not to be ideal, Dada said. 

"The goal is to keep her at Town & Country permanently, but if she does not generate enough traffic, we can talk to city officials about moving her to the new (downtown) park,” he said. 

The first time "Forever Marilyn" was in Palm Springs, it exceeded all expectations, Ready, the city manager, said. It attracted tourists to the city, which brought businesses new revenue and the city additional tax dollars.

“Whether it was day or night or the middle of summer, there were large crowds that came out to see the Marilyn statue. Since then, it’s been our belief that downtown merchants, hoteliers and other stakeholders have had an interest in bringing Marilyn back,” Ready said.

Last decade’s recession plunged city governments throughout the country into debt and, after 10 years of economic growth, many economists are forecasting another downturn is imminent. Nevertheless, Ready said he wouldn’t worry about the city loaning several hundred thousand dollars that could be repaid with hotel taxes.

“TOT dollars are coming in at a strong level as expected and that wouldn’t change significantly in a year,” he said. “We’re certain we would collect that portion again.”

But Moon said: “It’s always been my understanding that it’ll be completely funded by PS Resorts. They were working on sponsorships and all sorts of things and there’s nothing in our budget to do it."