Downtown Palm Springs celebrating new additions, improvements
A free fireworks show and concert will be held Thursday to celebrate ”the Palm Springs renaissance,” which is embodied in the downtown area’s latest upgrades, including the new Kimpton hotel, where an afternoon ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled.
The celebration, held in conjunction with the weekly Village Fest, will serve to welcome such recent downtown additions as the Kimpton and Starbucks Reserve, both of which opened last month. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the seven-story, 153-room Kimpton will start off the festivities
at 4 p.m. There will also be a time capsule ceremony held at the same time.
Goldenvoice, the promoters behind the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals, is also putting on a free community concert, featuring local bands The Flusters, the YIP YOPS and Minor Emergency.
Local philanthropist Harold Matzner will present a 30-minute fireworks spectacular set to cap off the evening.
“With the new opening of Kimpton the Rowan Palm Springs hotel and Starbucks Reserve, the Downtown Revitalization Project is coming to fruition and the renaissance underway in the city is now in full swing as an ultra-cool destination like no place else,” said Mary Jo Ginther, director of the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism.
The Kimpton is the centerpiece of the city’s long-running downtown redevelopment project on the site of the former Desert Fashion Plaza, a process that, through fits and starts, led to the opening of the hotel on Nov. 17.
“It is incredibly exciting to see this part of downtown finally refreshed,” said Nona Watson, Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce CEO.
“Now it’s time for our community to take stock and celebrate all that has been accomplished over the past several years by our residents, businesses, tourism and hospitality partners, who have worked together with the city council to make the downtown revitalization a reality. We are excited to invite everyone in the Coachella Valley and beyond for what will be a historic
event celebrating the Palm Springs renaissance.”
The City of Palm Springs is also opening a new parking structure the same day next to the art museum. There will be hundreds of new free public parking spaces available for residents and visitors within the new City-owned Downtown project.
