Massive Marilyn Monroe statue in Palm Springs to be moved following local controversy

The 26-foot-tall "Forever Marilyn" statue has long drawn criticism, but the decision to move it is courting its own controversy.

Following a protracted public battle that included a lawsuit, the controversial, 26-foot tall "Forever Marilyn" statue located in downtown Palm Springs will be relocated.

The City of Palm Springs released a statement on July 25 which read, in part, "The City of Palm Springs is pleased to announce that, during today’s closed session, the City Council reached an agreement in principle with P.S. Resorts and CReMa to relocate the Forever Marilyn sculpture to a location to be determined in the Downtown Park and move forward with the street vacation."

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P.S. Resorts is the entity which owns the gargantuan mock-up of the Hollywood icon, and CReMa can be explained by its full name: The Committee to Relocate Marilyn.

If you're a "Forever Marilyn" hater, however, don't get too excited. The press release states that the statue will be moved to a "location within the Downtown Park." The statue already stands on the edge of Downtown Park, a 1.5 acre plot of publicly accessible land that connects the Palm Springs Art Museum to the southbound thoroughfare S. Palm Canyon Rd.

No matter where "Forever Marilyn" is relocated in Downtown Park, you won't be able to miss her.

Related: Why does playing Marilyn Monroe garner more Oscar love than she ever got?

CReMa's most vocal member and founder, fashion designer Trina Turk, seems to approve of the proposed relocation vicinity, however. In comments made to The Palm Springs Post, Turk noted that "the park would be an obvious thing, that’s where everybody always thought it was going to go anyway.”

She referenced one of CReMa's major objections to the statue being located where it was, right in the middle of Museum Way, in further comments. "We definitely don’t want it infringing on any other Class 1 historic sites in the city of Palm Springs," she told the paper. As it stands, "Forever Marilyn" eclipses the architecturally significant facade of the Palm Springs Art Museum, located on the far end of Downtown Park.

Other objections to the statue include its clogging up the Museum Way traffic artery and potentially sexist overtones, citing frequent tourist pictures taken up the statue's billowing dress. CReMa's official GoFundMe page to raise capital for their 2023 lawsuit contends that, "The way in which the City of Palm Springs and PS Resorts implemented this decision," to place "Forever Marilyn" on Museum Way, "lacked transparency, and did not follow proper procedures."

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The City Council is very pleased to have found a satisfactory solution to this issue, which has divided so many within our community," concluded the City statement, which was signed by Mayor Jeffrey Bernstein.

Proponents of the statue cite it as symbolic of the enduring connection between the desert outpost and Hollywood. Hundreds of stars have lived and worked out of Palm Springs over the past century, from Leonardo DiCaprio to Barack and Michelle Obama to Monroe herself.

The critics of "Forever Marilyn" have for now won the battle. Depending on where the statue is relocated, however, this may just be beginning of a larger war.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.