Photos by Desert Dispatch publisher Jason Ball show an excavator, rubble and a partially dismantled building on the Indian Canyon Drive side of the historic complex.

A long-planned change to downtown Palm Springs is becoming visible. Demolition has begun on part of the Town & Country Center property where the city intends to build a new Fire Station No. 1.

In June, the City Council unanimously approved a roughly $4 million agreement to acquire a site at Andreas Road and North Indian Canyon Drive. City officials say the location will keep firefighters close to downtown while preserving 90 public parking spaces that could have been lost under an earlier plan near the existing station. The current Fire Station No. 1 has served Palm Springs for more than 70 years and no longer meets the department’s needs. engagepalmsprings.com

The demolition is limited to a portion of the Town & Country Center. In July, the city’s Historic Site Preservation Board approved the removal of two buildings at 171 and 181 N. Indian Canyon Drive. The approval calls for documentation of historic architectural features before removal and assessment and stabilization of the neighboring building at 169 N. Indian Canyon Drive. The proposed fire station’s design still requires review. thepalmspringspost.com

That distinction matters at a property with an unusually rich history. Opened in 1948, the Town & Country Center was designed by Paul R. Williams and A. Quincy Jones. Its buildings and pedestrian courtyard helped make it an early example of mixed-use desert modernism. Palm Springs designated the complex a Class 1 historic site in 2016. www.pspreservationfoundation.org

For now, Ball’s photos document demolition at the site, not construction of the fire station itself. The next question is how the city will design a working downtown firehouse alongside the historic portions of Town & Country that remain.