CV Wind-Up & Convention Center canceled by Saxony Group
La Quinta Mayor Linda Evans has confirmed to KESQ and CBS Local 2 that the Coachella Valley Wind-Up and the proposed Saxony Convention Center were pulled by Saxony Group CEO Martin Dolemo on Thursday.
Mayor Evans said she was surprised by the email sent to city leaders because all that was left to do was make the final payment. Read the full statement.
Dolemo purchased the old Sam’s Club on Highway 111 and Dune Palms Drive in La Quinta last year and said he wanted to turn in into a convention center destination for the east valley.
Dolemo also had planned on hosting a huge concert with Snoop Dogg as the headliner, and later said he wanted to host after parties that would occur during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April.
He’s been advertising the Coachella Valley Wind-Up for months by putting up billboards all over the Coachella Valley to promote the concerts. He also set up a website for people to purchase tickets.
Officials with the city were caught off guard when Dolemo sent the notice to cancel the event.
“Well we were surprised because since Tuesday of this week the building permits are ready and all he needs to do is come in and pay the building fees and he could start forward on the improvements on the building,” said Frank Spevacek, city manager of La Quinta. Those building fees totaled about $159,000.
For months the city claims Dolemo stuck to the time line to have the building ready for the Coachella Valley Wind-Up.
“We thought we were charting a course to be able to achieve issuing a permit and so it was kind of unexpected, and sometimes that happens, the applicant has to assess whether it makes sense for them to pursue an event, but we laid out is what we would expect for any event in the city,” said Gabriel Perez, planning manager for the City of La Quinta.
Some residents are glad the event has been canceled.
“I think a few of us are happy about it because it would bring in a lot of traffic and a lot of congestion we don’t need that during that time of year,” said Jim Crall of La Quinta.
Other residents we talked to are worried about how much time it will take for someone to purchase the building from Dolemo.
“There is nothing worse than a big vacant building and I really question the demand for the building at this point,” said Gregg Herrell of La Quinta.
Saxony Group released the following statement to us following Thursday’s decision:
Saxony regrets to inform the public and ticket holders that the Coachella Valley Wind-Up will be cancelled. The issuance of the building permit has taken the majority of the time to date, therefore we will not have enough time to complete the required renovations to host the event. All tickets sold to date will be refunded to purchasers starting today. – Coachella Valley Wind-Up
