Downtown Palm Springs is changing quite a bit. There will soon be new hotels, shops, and a gigantic addition to the Spa Resort Casino. The city has also has plans to build a downtown park – well, if they can ever figure out what the park will actually be.
The City Council met on Wednesday night to discuss the one-acre park that has been in the works already for two years, reports KESQ:
“You start out with these grandiose ideas of what you’d like to have then the reality of budgets hits,” Palm Springs Mayor Robert Moon said.
The plans that would add the Marilyn Forever statue, the Aluminaire house by architect Albert Frey and a few other designs that would cost about $11 million and 12 million. Councilors say they plan to keep those two main pieces in the design but can spend only about $6 million, mostly from Measure J funds.
“I think its probably enough money to get the park open. We can always add things to it as we learn what we really want to use it for,” Palm Springs Council man J.R. Roberts said.
Hmmm…perhaps the process would have moved along faster if someone told the designer that, oh I don’t know, design the park with a budget of the funds that are actually available?
Earlier plans for the park had a concert stage and fencing as part of it to allow for ticketed events, but now those plans have been dropped for a more free flowing space that would still allow for someone to bring in a stage for a show.
During the meeting, Councilman J.R. Roberts called the plans for the park “busy” and “cluttered,” according to the Desert Sun – and, judging by these plans, yes it is:
The city hopes to have construction on whatever the park will actually be begin in early 2018.
