Friday, December 06, 2013

Church Arson and Carol Channing



The City of Palm Springs recently celebrated its 75th birthday, which means their midcentury modern "historic" buildings are of fairly recent vintage. This makes for some serious conflict between preservationists and developers who can't figure out how to use old shells for new uses. (Click here for a Palm Springs Life article on the subject.)



Last September there was a fire of suspicious origin in downtown Palm Springs at the 1935 Community Church designed by William Charles Tanner, and it's being blamed on vagrants, though the arsonists could have been anyone.



Historic legends of a different sort also populate the area, including former Broadway star Carol Channing.



She was in Palm Springs Thursday evening as a celebrity guest for the annual downtown Christmas tree lighting where the city gives away hot cocoa and LED Christmas lights.



Channing is looking great for her 92 years and my only regret is not capturing a photo of her gold glitter go-go boots.

2 comments:

AphotoAday said...

I just LOVE old people, and when they are older than me, or old as a fossil, like Carol here, it really makes my day.
By the way, Mike, your review of the War Requiem in the last post is some really excellent writing. You have skills. Your enthusiasm and/or disdain always is expressed so succinctly. Ten points and a gold star.

Civic Center said...

Dear Donald: Thanks for the sweet words. I had to think about that War Requiem for a while to get it succinct so thanks for noticing.

And yes, the living fossil that is Carol Channing makes me happy too.