Ithe Angeles — Fans of Marilyn Monroe has won a battle to preserve his brand in Los Angeles and is one step closer to seeing a towering statue of the movie icon remain in Palm Springs.
The Los Angeles home where Monroe briefly lived and died has been declared a historic cultural monument, while a decision by the Palm Springs planning commission increased the chances that a 25-foot statue named “Forever Marilyn” will remain in place.
The Los Angeles City Council voted in favor of the historic designation on Wednesday after a long battle over whether the house in the Brentwood neighborhood would be demolished, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The current owners live next door and wanted to demolish the house to expand their assets. The council, however, was unanimous in acting to save it.
“There is no other person or place in the city of Los Angeles as iconic as Marilyn Monroe and her home in Brentwood,” area council representative Traci Park said before the vote.
Monroe bought the house for $75,000 and died there a few months later, on August 4, 1962, of an apparent overdose. The current owners, Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank, purchased the home for $8.35 million and obtained a demolition permit, but encountered opposition.
They claim the house has changed so much over the years that it is no longer historic and has become a nuisance in the neighborhood due to tourist traffic.
The process that led to the designation was “biased, unconstitutional and fraudulent,” Peter C. Sheridan, an attorney for Milstein and Bank, said in a statement to the Associated Press.
Sheridan said Park and his team were unresponsive to homeowners’ efforts to find a solution and ignored opposition from civic groups and homeowners.
The lawyer also said that the city “granted dozens of permits to more than 14 different previous owners to change the house through numerous renovations, resulting in there being nothing left that reflected Ms. Monroe’s brief time there 60 years ago.”
In Palm Springs, the “Forever Marilyn” statute depicts Monroe in the famous flowing dress scene from “The Seven Year Itch.” He has been transferred around the US and elsewhere, including a previous stint in Palm Springs, and is now back. A hotel group that owns the statue wants it to remain permanently, but some residents are opposed.
A technical decision on location made by the planning commission on Wednesday marked a step toward maintaining the statue, The Desert Sun reported. The matter will continue before the Palm Springs City Council in the future.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
