City of Palm Springs settles lawsuit over ‘Forever Marilyn’ location
A lawsuit over the location of the "Forever Marilyn" sculpture in Palm Springs has been settled.
The city of Palm Springs announced it has settled the lawsuit filed by the Committee to Relocate Marilyn (CReMa). This comes after the city agreed to move "Forever Marilyn" to the Downtown Park.
“P.S. Resorts and the Committee to Relocate Marilyn have identified a highly visible and safe location in the Downtown Park that satisfies all parties involved,” said Palm Springs Mayor Jeffrey Bernstein. “The move is anticipated to occur no later than March 1 of 2025.”
The 'CReMa’ filed the lawsuit in March 2021, claiming the city illegally closed Museum Way for the placement of this statue. CReMa members added that the statue blocks the view of the Palm Springs Art Museum, violating the museum's special status as outlined in the Downtown Palm Springs Specific Plan, adopted in April 2016.
A legal battle continued for three years, with the case even being dismissed before that ruling was overturned. The issue over the sculpture's location was even set to end up on the November ballot.
Earlier this year, the Palm Springs City Council voted to amend the downtown plan to permanently vacate or close off that portion of Museum Way, making it a pedestrian walkway going forward. The move was a step toward keeping Forever Marilyn on Museum Way.
However, in July, the city ultimately announced that Forever Marilyn would indeed be moved.
PS Resorts purchased the sculpture from Seward Johnson Atelier in February 2021 for $1 million plus installation costs. It arrived in several pieces, and the installation required a 60-ton crane to hoist the towering figure into place in June 2021.
The initial agreement between the city and PS Resorts allowed for the statue to remain in its Museum Way location for three years -- a time period that is now expiring. But PS Resorts' chairman, Aftab Dada, said previously he would have liked the statue to remain at its current location permanently.
The 17-ton statue crafted of steel and aluminum was first unveiled in Chicago in 2011 before moving to the corner of Palm Canyon Drive and Tahquitz Canyon Way in Palm Springs in 2012, where it was on display for about two years.
"Forever Marilyn'' was designed by artist Seward Johnson, who died in March 2020.
The humongous sculpture recreates the moment in the 1955 film "The Seven Year Itch'' in which Monroe's white dress surges up toward her waist as she stands on a windy Manhattan subway grate.
