Press Release

Palm Springs, CA (April 27, 2006) –  A group of Palm Springs community leaders, residents, members of the business community, architects, preservationist organizations and historians have joined together as Friends of Town & Country Center (FTCC). The group established FTCC to explore a creative alternative to the proposed plan by Wessman Development to demolish the 1948 Town & Country Center. The proposal calls for razing the Center as part of a mixed-use redevelopment plan for Desert Fashion Plaza. FTCC members contend that the Center could fit in well with a proposal for commercial/residential mixed-use as the Town & Country Center originally featured retail on the ground floor and apartments above.

The Friends of Town & Country Center was formed to promote an overall design of downtown Palm Springs that respects its unique historical and architectural character.

“All of us involved in Friends of Town & Country Center want what the rest of the community wants, that is, to see some long-overdue progress with the Desert Fashion Plaza,” said Peter Moruzzi, founding president of the Palm Springs Modern Committee (PS ModCom). “Town & Country Center was designed as a mixed-use project and fits in with the mixed-use concept being proposed for downtown Palm Springs. We believe its distinctive architecture and courtyard could enhance the downtown street scene as a gathering spot, much as the courtyard behind Koffi has become a few blocks north.”

Palm Springs’ mid-century modern architecture has garnered the city international media attention as well as serving as a boon to tourism.  The National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C. last month named Palm Springs as one of America’s “Dozen Distinctive Destinations” for 2006.

The National Trust’s annual list promotes Heritage Tourism and acknowledged the city for its highly original buildings designed in what became known as the Palm Springs Modern style.   

“Palm Springs contains an astonishing wealth of architectural styles and building types reflective of the city’s 100-year history as a desert resort,” said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust. “Palm Springs is not a city of architectural re-creations or approximations of previous eras. Instead, it is a remarkably intact and authentic expression of its architectural heritage,” Moe added.

The Friends of Town & Country Center support demolition of the Desert Fashion Plaza to create an east-west corridor connecting the Palm Springs Art Museum to Palm Canyon Drive.  “We support Wessman Development’s vision for creating a dynamic street scene by opening up the downtown sector with a promenade that will bring a new vitality to Palm Springs,” said William Kopelk, president of the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation (PSPF). “We would like to find a creative way to incorporate Palm Springs’ historical and architectural heritage in the revitalization of downtown that retains our unique character which draws visitors from around the world,” said Kopelk.

Located at 174 N. Palm Canyon Drive, the Town & Country Center, which is owned by John Wessman, was designed by renowned architects Paul R. Williams and A. Quincy Jones in 1948. The Town & Country Center is a complex of three buildings that extends from Palm Canyon to Indian Canyon.  Of the three buildings, the one closest to Indian Canyon Drive currently houses Zeldaz nightclub.

While the Center currently appears forlorn due to neglect and lack of maintenance, it has a celebrated architectural history.  It “is a distinctive example of 1940s California Modernism incorporating curved storefronts and canopies, horizontal lines of warm wood, and a lush landscaped courtyard,” said Alan Hess, author of the popular book “Palm Springs Weekend.”  Many of these elements are visible today by approaching the Center through a narrow walkway adjacent to the Grill-a-Burger restaurant.

For more information about becoming involved with Friends of Town and CountryCenter please visit the website at: www.FriendsofTCC.com