Tramway Gas Station

Tramway Gas Station
Palm Springs Visitor Center, 2014
Location2901 North Palm Canyon
Palm Springs, California
United States
Coordinates33°51′30″N 116°33′29″W / 33.8584°N 116.5581°W / 33.8584; -116.5581
Built1965 (1965)
Architect
Architectural styleDesert modern
NRHP reference No.15000645
Added to NRHPSeptember 28, 2015

The Tramway Gas Station is a landmark former Enco service station in Palm Springs, California, United States, so named because of its location at the foot of Tramway Road, the lone road leading to the base of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. It was intended to be the first Palm Springs building visitors saw when approaching the city from the north via California State Route 111.

The building, with its distinctive, cantilevered, wedge-shaped canopy (referred to as a hyperbolic paraboloid on a historic marker mounted on the building) was built in 1965 and designed by Albert Frey and Robson C. Chambers. It is considered to be a prime example of modernist architecture.

The station had closed by the mid-1990s, and its fate was in doubt until its purchase by a private interest, who erected a wall around the property and converted it into an art gallery.[1] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.[2] It is now operated by the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism as the Palm Springs Visitor Center.[3][4]

  1. ^ Hinrichs, Matt. "In Palm Springs: Frey gas station and Tramway". Scrubbles.net. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
  2. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Listing". National Park Service. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
  3. ^ Lotter, Jane (2003-10-16). "Last Chance for Gas". Preservation. National Trust for Historic Preservation. Archived from the original on 2010-01-05. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
  4. ^ "About Palm Springs". Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism. Retrieved 2016-09-19.