Marilyn Monroe Statue Could Make Smash in the Desert
CREATED 5:47 PM
PALM SPRINGS- The hit show smash is brining Marilyn Monroe's legacy back to the limelight, and now a towering version of her could land Marilyn back in Palm Springs.
"Nothing could beat Marilyn Monroe at this point," said Palm Springs Councilmember Paul Lewin.
A group of Palm Springs hotels are raising money to bring a traveling sculpture of Marilyn Monroe from Chicago to the lot, which was cleared for the revitalization of the Desert Fashion Plaza. But the mall won't be done for at least a few years. In the meantime, city leaders want to make the space attractive for visitors.
"What we want to do is make this a destination park, something people will come to from 300-400 miles away and quite honestly they'll be people that fly in," said Karl Kruger from the Palm Springs Resorts-- the group leading the effort to get the statue.
At 26 feet tall, supporters say grounding the statue in the Palm Springs would add to her roots in the desert.
"With the movie stars and the glamour... I think it would be perfect," said Carol Ehrlich, who is visiting Palm Springs from Canada.
But first comes the money. Getting the sculpture to Palm Springs will cost about $100,000. Private donors have already contributed about half of that, according to Kruger.
"We don't want to invest a lot of public money in a place that is only going to be temporarily open," said Lewin.
The group trying to get the sculpture will propose their idea to the city council this next Wednesday.
"We need to get all the pieces together and make sure that the city wants to go forward with this," said Kruger
If city approved, a giant Marilyn could be making a smash in the desert.