Old Bank of America Building Demolition in Palm Sp...: Palm Springs mayor Steve Pougnet and developer John Wessman celebrate with city council members and residents the demolition of the old Bank of America building in Palm Springs.
Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet (above) lifts his champagne glass in a toast to the demolition of the old Bank of America building (left), which marks the beginning of the city’s long-awaited Desert Fashion Plaza revitalization project. photos by Wade Byars/The Desert Sun
Developer John Wessman and Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet use sledgehammers to break away a brick portion of the old Bank of America building in Palm Springs. Marilyn Chung/the desert sun
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PALM SPRINGS — The party started early Thursday in downtown Palm Springs, but it had nothing to do with VillageFest.
More than 400 people gathered to witness history — many of them with a plastic cup of champagne in hand — as Desert Fashion Plaza owner John Wessman and Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet climbed onto a crane and took the first chunk out of the decaying mall together, celebrating a partnership which they hope will be an impetus for downtown revitalization.
“We never ever stopped talking about how we wanted to move this project and so we've gotten there,” Pougnet said. “We're on the right path.”
With the Black Eyed Peas' hit single “I Got a Feeling” blaring from loudspeakers in the background, Pougnet and even City Manager David Ready couldn't contain themselves, grooving to the beat as the crowd danced, many singing along with the lyric: “Tonight's gonna be a good night.”
“I never understood why they built an indoor mall in Palm Springs. I'm so glad it's going to go away to make room for new beauty in downtown,” said Palm Springs resident Gary Carlson, who held an oversized inflated hammer to show his support.
The real sledgehammers were wielded by members of the City Council and by Wessman. Each took a swing at the long-vacant Bank of America building, whose block-long space is to become an open and welcoming corner of a new entertainment and shopping complex to be built over the next three years.
Councilman Chris Mills, who serves on the council subcommittee for the mall project with Pougnet, took particular pleasure in his hits.
The long-time baseball player — and current senior softball player in the Palm Springs league — took seven lucky swings at the building.
“I've been looking at that building since … when it was finished and I was still in high school. I didn't like it when I was in high school and didn't like up until yesterday,” Mills said. “But I like it a lot better now.”
Jay Lippmann, who moved to Palm Springs in 1974 and remembered Bank of America when it was open and its later vacant demise, said he was elated to witness the first pieces of rubble fall.
“It was just great to see it started and that we're actually going to have a new plaza here,” Lippman said.
The old Bank of America and Hamburger Hamlet buildings at the corner of Tahquitz Canyon Way and Palm Canyon Drive are expected to be leveled by Feb. 28 to make way for a public plaza that will open up downtown views to the Palm Springs Art Museum.
More demolition is planned in 2013 with the first phase of the project to be complete by Dec. 28, 2014. The project is being partially financed by a voter-approved sales tax hike that passed last November.
Measure J increases Palm Springs' sales tax by 1 percentage point to 8.75 percent, starting in April, to help pay for the city's portion of the project, which is $43 million. The entire project is expected to cost upwards of $100 million.
“In 2011, all the stars lined up,” Wessman said of Measure J's nearly 60 percent win. “Now we're rolling and going as fast as we can go ... we're going to make it happen.”
The community block party followed the mayor's annual State of the City address, which was sponsored by the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce at the Hilton Palm Springs.
During his hour-long speech, Pougnet emphasized how the city's other “partnerships” with the community resulted in a number of success stories for 2011, which included keeping a proposed new Riverside County jail away from the “gateway of Palm Springs.” He also cited the opening of the new Palm Springs Animal Shelter and the retention of CareFusion, the city's largest manufacturing business.
Other highlights from his speech included:
Transient occupancy tax for the past two years combined shows an increase of 22.8 percent.
Palm Springs International Airport improvements have contributed to the ability to double airline capacity, which helped bring in Virgin America, for more flights around the country.
Business downtown is picking up to help bring the commercial vacancy rate lower than El Paseo in Palm Desert.
The creation of the Coachella Valley iHub business incubator that has created “real economic development.”
The partnership with PS Resorts and the creation of a new council subcommittee to develop additional special events in town to attract younger crowds like the forthcoming Carnival Palm Springs.
Discussing the city budget, Pougnet said his administration had reduced the staff by 100 positions and reduced expenses by $13.2 million to balance the general fund budget.
Looking ahead, Pougnet reminded residents that the College of the Desert will be opening its west valley campus in 2014.
He also announced a new way to tie together the city's goals of being a healthy and sustainability city: The Mayor's Healthy Planet, Healthy You Race and Wellness Fair.
The 5-mile race and fair is slated for 8 a.m. on April 21.
Mariecar Mendoza covers Palm Springs for The Desert Sun. She can be reached at (760) 778-4669 or mariecar.mendoza@thedesertsun.com. Follow her on Twitter @TDSMarMendoza.
