‘Forever Marilyn’ sculpture set to return to Palm Springs by end of March
PS Resorts has issued a tentative date for when the "Forever Marilyn" sculpture will return to Palm Springs.
PS Resorts Chairman Aftab Dada confirmed to News Channel 3 that the organization has finished the $1 million deal to purchase "Forever Marilyn" and bring the sculpture back to Palm Springs. The deal also includes installation fees.
PS Resorts has set a tentative date of Sunday, March 28 as the day they will unveil in Palm Springs.
As we reported back in November, Marilyn will be located at Museum Way in downtown Palm Springs.
Dada said he expects Marilyn to begin the journey to Palm Springs from a New Jersey warehouse in March. He said the sculpture should be in Palm Springs about 4 or 5 days prior to the installation date.
PS Resorts still has to work on details with the installation crew which has to be hired to install Marilyn.
"Forever Marilyn" is a 26-foot-tall, 34,000-pound sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in her iconic dress-flying pose from the 1955 romantic comedy "The Seven Year Itch."
Marilyn stood in the middle of downtown Palm Springs from May 2012 to March 2014. The sculpture brought worldwide attention to the city and many people have been wondering when Marilyn would return to the city where she was possibly first discovered and has significant ties to.
Marilyn was supposedly discovered in Palm Springs at Charlie Farrell’s Racquet Club on 2743 N. Indian Canyon Drive by talent agent Johnny Hyde in 1949
In the 1950s, she spent time in Palm Springs with her then-husband, Baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio. In the early 1960s, she owned a home in the Vista Las Palmas neighborhood.
"... I assume that she was drawn to the beauty and stillness of the landscape. There is something about her pose; the exuberance for life without inhibition, which is quintessentially American, and very fitting for Palm Springs. It expresses an uninhibited sense of our own vibrancy," said Seward Johnson, the sculptor of "Forever Marilyn."
The sculpture proved very popular for tourists and residents in Palm Springs. "Forever Marilyn" was the site of look-alike contests, movie screenings, concerts, weddings, and a Marilyn Monroe birthday celebration.
"She’s part of our brand now, and she wasn’t here that long, but now people expect to see her,” said then-Palm Springs Councilmember J.R. Roberts in 2019. "People come back to Palm Springs and look around and say, ‘Where’s Marilyn?'"
Now the deal is done and the question can finally be answered.
Dada told News Channel 3 he is excited to bring Marilyn home, where she will stay permanently.
Stay with News Channel 3 as we bring you continuing updates on the future of "Forever Marilyn."
