The Palm Springs Historic Site Preservation Board on Tuesday approved a request from Dezart Performs to designate the First Church of Christ Scientist as a Class 1 site. The City Council must grant final approval.
Modernist architect Albert Frey designed the church at 605 South Riverside Drive, which held its first service on March 17, 1957. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. Dezart Performs purchased the church in December 2024 to use as their new Dezart Playhouse, and the theater company held their debut show at the venue last November.
Class 1 is the city’s highest designation level for historic sites, and comes with certain requirements for any requests to alter or demolish the structure.
Designating a Class 1 site requires the city to determine that the building meets at least one of five separate criteria showing “exceptional historic significance,” according to a city staff presentation, which included a full nomination application prepared by Peter Moruzzi of the Palm Springs Modern Committee.
The First Church of Christ Scientist met two of these criteria, reflecting both a particular period of local history and the work of a master architect of the era.