Thousands of people passing through the doors or flying above the city-owned Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort may not fully appreciate the facility’s clubhouse. On Tuesday, a city board did its part to rectify that.
Driving the news: With its architect, Hugh M. Kaptur, present in the meeting, the Palm Springs Historic Site Preservation Board (HSPB) gave its unanimous approval to a recommendation that the clubhouse be designated a Class 1 historic property. The issue next moves to the City Council for final approval.
Looking back: Completed in 1967, the clubhouse off Lawrence Crossley Road features a sweeping roofline, textured stucco walls, and rock veneer cladding — all characteristics of Modernist principles.
- Kaptur told HSPB members that while some claim the building is a copy of the Pearl Harbor Memorial, it’s not. “I was trying to tie the architecture into golf,” he explained. “That roofline is meant to represent a golf swing.”
- The building’s location in the flight path of the city airport also factored into the design, Kaptur said, noting, “Flying over the golf course and then seeing this clubhouse, I didn’t want a bunch of mechanical equipment to be viewed on the roof.”
Why it matters: The Class 1 designation assures the preservation of the building should its leaseholder want to alter it or should it change hands. While the city has no current plans to sell the facility, that has been a topic of discussion in the past.
- Ernest Cecena, who helped organize neighbors to speak out against any potential sale in 2021, praised the designation during the public hearing portion of Tuesday’s meeting.
- “I’ve heard repeatedly about preserving the clubhouse,” Cecena said. “I’m so happy to see it’s actually coming to be.”
But wait: The recommendation for Class 1 designation won’t be the only thing asked of the City Council. HSPB members asked city staff to request that a timber and canvas structure added at one point in time to the entrance be removed.
- “That terrible thing in the front needs to come down,” said Steven Keylon, vice president of the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation and author of an award-winning book about Kaptur. “It’s terrible what that does to this beautiful piece of architecture.”
