Palm Springs Airport in 1965
Palm Springs Airport Expansion
A colossal expansion of Palm Springs Airport is under consideration that has the potential of substantially impacting the setting and historic character of Albert Frey’s City Hall (1952-57) and Donald Wexler’s original airport terminal (1965). Both of these iconic landmarks are Class 1 Historic Sites and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
In particular, an enormous 5-level car rental facility located directly across from City Hall is currently the preferred option. That location would be completely out-of-scale with the historic building’s low-slung architecture and would disrupt the aesthetic of both the approach to, and departure from, the Wexler terminal, as well as block mountain views from the landmark.
Proposed Car Rental Facility
An alternative site on the south side of Kirk Douglas Way, which PS ModCom strongly supports, would be a much better location that would eliminate these negative impacts.
In the coming weeks we will be coordinating a letter-writing campaign to the City Council and Desert Sun newspaper as well as encouraging public comment at targeted City Council meetings.
Palm Springs Library Interior Renovation
Palm Springs Library Center
The planned renovation and possible expansion of the 1975 William Cody-designed Palm Springs Library Center is currently focusing on the building’s interior. In April, the Desert Sun published architectural renderings that elicited much negative comment from the design/preservation community on social media.
Library Renovation Rendering
Library Renovation Rendering
PS ModCom will be participating in upcoming Library Renovation Steering Committee meetings to provide input on the design.
Town & Country Center. Demolition by Neglect?
The Town & Country Center (T&CC) was designed by renowned Los Angeles architects A. Quincy Jones and Paul R. Williams in 1947. Efforts to restore the deteriorating T&CC go back over 20 years, yet whenever it seemed we were close to a solution, for various reasons the plans fell through. While the T&CC buildings along Palm Canyon Drive have been recently restored, the former Town & Country Restaurant centering the courtyard is in terrible condition.
Town & Country Center 1952
In particular, a wide open portion of the second story exhibits significant interior deterioration, including ceiling collapse. As a result, there may be substantial damage from water intrusion affecting the structural soundness of the entire building.
Town & Country Restaurant Current View
Second Story Damage
In addition, several of the second story apartment units on the T&CC’s curvilinear portion on the north side of the courtyard exhibit water intrusion around window openings and other areas.
Ground Floor Retail. Second Story Apartments.
Second Story Apartments
As a Class One Historic Site, the city’s Historic Site Preservation Board (HSPB) has jurisdiction over the entire T&CC property. Recently, the HSPB requested an immediate inspection of the buildings by city code enforcement officials. Once current conditions have been assessed, an action plan must be prepared to address these issues. PS ModCom is actively involved in seeing that these actions are implemented.
Preservation History
Palm Springs’ longest and most intractable preservation battle continues without final resolution.
The Town & Country Center, built between 1946 and 1955, was once a glamorous retail, restaurant, and residential mixed-use project designed over the years by a number of important visiting and local architects including A. Quincy Jones, Paul R. Williams, Albert Frey, John Porter Clark, Donald Wexler and Richard Harrison.
The Palm Springs Modern Committee began working on the preservation of the Town & Country Center in 2004, co-founding Friends of Town & Country Center in 2006. In 2011, when PS ModCom’s attorney identified illegal aspects of the City’s Development Agreement, we ran a Desert Sun ad and sent out direct mail pieces requesting voters to contact the City with their views on its harmful terms. In subsequent years, preservation architect Susan Secoy wrote the successful Palm Springs Class One Historic Site and National Register of Historic Places nominations that were crucial in the effort to save the complex. Working together, a strong effort by the preservation community led the City Council in 2016 to remove the Town & Country Center from the downtown project and prevent its future demolition.
