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Palm Springs’ $8.6M Downtown Park incomplete after contractor ‘abandons’ project

The city of Palm Springs says a contractor who was paid millions of dollars to construct the Downtown Park has "abandoned" the project, which remains incomplete nearly a year after opening.

With much fanfare last October, Palm Springs celebrated the grand opening of the new taxpayer-funded park – but 9 months later, city documents show the project is unfinished and lead contractor Fast-Track Construction Corporation (FTC) has been terminated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z3mggwtvnE

Palm Springs City Engineer Joel Montalvo said the park was finished substantially enough to open, but a laundry list of outstanding items were never completed: projects ranging from engineering to lighting.

"Fast Track Construction abandoned the project, essentially," Montalvo said. "They were unable to complete the project."

The park's centerpiece, a water feature with mist and a waterfall, is now out of order. Montalvo said significant repairs are necessary to get it running again. "You would have to dig up the ground and all the existing landscaping that's behind the water feature," he said.

Veteran downtown business owner Joy Meredith said she was caught off guard by the issues with the Downtown Park and only discovered them out of curiosity, months after the fact.

"I'm sure that the water feature cost the city a pretty penny, and I know that the residents were very excited to have a cool feature like that here," Meredith said.

City council approved the termination of FTC's contract in June. The item passed through in the agenda's consent calendar – and was not verbally addressed.

"I would like for the city to update the residents of the city as to what the status is of this project," Meredith said. "I just would like to see that kind of transparency in the discussions."

Of the park's $8.6 million price tag, FTC was paid more than $7.4 million.

The city is now withholding more than $1.2 million and is seeking liquidated damages of $5,400 per calendar day since March 4, 2021, the project's deadline. To date, that totals more than $2.8 million owed to the city.

"But sometimes, those things, there's usually some negotiations involved to determine the final pay," Montalvo said.

The park is funded in part by the city's voter-approved Measure J sales tax.

Palm Springs is now working with the FTC's insurance group to carry out the rest of the project. So far, there is no timeline for completion.

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Jake Ingrassia

Joining News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 as a reporter, Jake is excited to be launching his broadcasting career here in the desert. Learn more about Jake here.

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