Demolition has begun on two historic buildings in downtown Palm Springs to make way for a new fire station.
On Friday, Oct. 2, demolition crews could be seen at work tearing down century-old buildings that previously held the food bank for the Well in the Desert homeless services provider at 171 and 181 N. Indian Canyon Drive.
The Palm Springs City Council approved the purchase of the site for $4 million in June so that the aging Fire Station 1 could be replaced by a new station nearby. It came after local businesses successfully objected to a previous location the city had eyed for the new station because it would have removed a nearby parking lot.
"It’s one of the rare things that covers so many bases," Councilmember David Ready said at the June
meeting. "All this together does something that I think the whole community can be proud of."
But two buildings that had existed since the 1910s had to be demolished for the new fire station to be built. The buildings were part of the Town and Country Center complex, owned by Grit Development. While most of the former open-air shopping center will remain, older buildings that were attached have now been demolished.
Both were constructed between 1910 and 1920, according to city documents (the Town and Country Center was built in 1948). The building at 171 N. Indian Canyon had been designated as a Class 1 historic site in 2016, the highest historic designation given in the city.
Because of historic nature of both buildings, the demolition required the approval of the Historic Site Preservation Board.
The board voted unanimously to approve the demolition in July, according toThe Palm Springs Post. One board member noted during the meeting the "heart" of the Town and Country Center would be preserved, while the necessity to balance public safety also needed to be considered.
The former occupant of the buildings, Well in the Desert, plans to move to a new location soon. The organization received $1 million from an anonymous source to build a new food bank. It has yet to announce the new site or the timeline for the move.
Sam Morgen covers local government for The Desert Sun. Reach him at smorgen@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Why Palm Springs is demolishing historic buildings downtown
