In March 1975, approximately 2,000 people from California to Canada descended upon Palm Springs to celebrate their recreation of choice — square dancing. Local resident and 20-year veteran square-dance caller Osa Mathews was on hand to command the couples to do-si-do and box the gnat. During the event, 1,000 couples broke in the enormous maple wood dance floor at the Pavilion in the new Sunrise Park, which turned 50 this year.
Designed by architect Donald Wexler, the Pavilion features his signature clean lines and straightforward, elegantly functional style.
Wexler was far from alone in creating the park’s facilities. A roster of some of the desert’s top architects joined talents to design a Swim Center, Leisure Center, and library on a 38-acre plot of land just east of downtown Palm Springs.
The land on which Sunrise Park rests — on Sunrise Way between Ramon and Baristo roads — has a long history of sport and leisure. It began with the Palm Springs Field Club, a group of horse enthusiasts who, in 1935, chipped in $50,000 to buy a bit of desert real estate. Barns and arenas were built for equestrian events such as racing, rodeos, and polo. In May 1949, a nearly $1 million bond measure cleared the way for the Palm Springs Parks & Recreation Department to build a new arena and stadium that the city hoped would lure the California State Horsemen’s Association to town for their upcoming convention.
An equestrian event at the Palm Springs Field Club (later renamed the Polo Grounds), 1949.
Photo courtesy palm springs historical society
Swim Center, circa 1970s.
Photo courtesy Palm Springs Art Museum, Hugh Kaptur Collection
In 1950, the newly named Polo Grounds came to life. The arena was inaugurated in January of that year with the World Class Rodeo, while the stadium saw its first baseball game when the Seattle Rainiers (who had been training in Palm Springs) played the San Francisco Seals. Mayor Charlie Farrell, bucking tradition, opted not to throw the first pitch but instead to wield a bat and take the first swing. The Polo Grounds was a hit, hosting numerous baseball games and Western-style equestrian events. A site plan by architect Harry J. Williams reveals parking for 700 cars, areas for tennis and picnicking, and a 1941 roller rink by architect John Porter Clark that was repurposed as the park’s first pavilion and ultimately demolished prior to the park’s 1975 opening.
Baseball’s popularity grew steadily, and various teams used the Polo Grounds stadium for spring training. It was Western star and part-time Palm Springs resident Gene Autry, however, who put the venue on the map. In 1961, he brought his Los Angeles Angels out for spring training, and they played at the stadium for the next 31 years. A quiet period followed until the emergence in 2003 of a new hometown team, Palm Springs Power, a collegiate league whose success led to a series of improvements made to what is now called Palm Springs Stadium.
The Sunrise Park we know today is the result of Proposition R, a $5 million bond measure residents voted on in November 1972. As the city grew, so did the need for a library larger than downtown’s Welwood Murray Memorial Library. Proposition R funded a new library and a series of new recreational spaces, tying the existing Polo Grounds and nearby civic buildings into a unified Sunrise Park — keeping the stadium, Dr. Frey Jaycee Building (1966), Boys & Girls Club (1958), and Fire Station No. 2 (1951). The bond also benefited Demuth, Desert Highland, and Frances Stevens parks and funded bicycle trails through the city. The measure was approved by a 2-to-1 margin.
In 1965, the City Council appointed a league of extraordinary architects to ensure architectural merit for public projects. The Palm Springs Collaborative included E. Stewart Williams, Hugh Kaptur, William F. Cody, Donald Wexler, Richard Harrison, Robson Chambers, and Michael Black.
By the early ’70s, well before Proposition R was placed on the ballot, the dream team set their sights on the Polo Grounds and how best to reinvigorate the space. Cody and his firm would design the new $1 million library and oversee the recreational projects. Wexler and Harrison would design the new Pavilion and Leisure Center, while the Swim Center went to Kaptur and partner Larry Lapham.
The baseball stadium at the Polo Grounds.
Photo courtesy palm springs historical society
At some point in the planning, Fire Station No. 2, on the corner of Ramon Road and Sunrise Way, was slated for demolition. Designed by Clark and Frey in 1951, the structure served as the home for the Boys & Girls Club for several years before undergoing a dramatic transformation in the early ’90s to become the Mizell Center, a community center for seniors. The Clark-designed roller rink, however, was not as lucky. It was demolished just before the park’s opening.
For the library, Cody and his team designed a brutalist-style building set at an angle to the street, with sloping concrete exterior walls, clerestory windows, and a skylight. The library is currently closed for a multiyear renovation, with reopening anticipated in 2027. A fountain later became a koi pond that was fenced after too many bookworms fell into it. Wexler and Harrison’s Pavilion and Leisure Center, north of the Swim Center, were connected by a breezeway.
Of all the park’s elements, Kaptur’s Swim Center underwent the biggest design changes. Originally envisioned as containing two medium-size pools surrounded by an angular concrete deck, the center ended up with one Olympic-size pool and a 5,200-square-foot bathhouse.
When the renovated Polo Grounds needed a shiny new name, the city solicited suggestions from the public. Names such as Fiesta Park, Leisure Park, and Pasatiempo Plaza were considered before the city decided on Sunrise Park.
The timing for Sunrise Park turned out to be lousy, as the 1973 oil crisis stifled momentum. To help alleviate surging costs, planners simplified the landscaping and stripped away many architectural details. The Swim Center suffered the biggest financial pinch. Though the pool size remained the same, the proposed bathhouse was scaled back to less than one-third of its original size. Gone also were the proposed snack bar, seating areas, and exhibition bleachers.
On April 21, 1975, the Swim Center opened, offering swimming and scuba classes along with a “diaper class” for wee ones. The library opened later in the year, with a dedication ceremony Dec. 7.
Some residents believe Sunrise Park is ready for renewed attention. Graphic designer Tom Dolle, a frequent Swim Center patron, points to minimal signage and a lack of awareness about the park as a whole. “They might know the library or the Swim Center,” he says, but not the entirety of the park itself. That’s a basic communication design issue: Tell people where they are and how to get to other places once they’re there. People get confused.”
Dolle’s mission now is to increase awareness of the park and advocate for improvements. In 1972, according to Dolle, “the city got together and said, ‘We want to do something really big and important and expand our park system.’ And so they raised the money, hired a team of the best local architects, and they did this very big project. I feel like that’s what we need again. We need that sort of thing from the city, from the community, to say, ‘This is important to us.’ We need to spend some money and make our parks really good for the next 50 years.”
And that’s the plan, according to Nicholas Gonzales, director of Palm Springs Parks & Recreation. “Officials are helping to establish a nonprofit organization dedicated to fundraising and community partnerships,” he explains. “Over the next several years, residents can expect to see multiple upgrades within Sunrise Park, including deferred maintenance at Palm Springs Stadium, renovations to the Pavilion, a building upgrade to the Swim Center locker rooms, and a full renovation of the playground.” A 50th anniversary celebration is also in the works for fall 2026.
Whatever its current challenges, Sunrise Park remains a colorful quilt of pastimes and pursuits where social recreation is king. On any given day, badminton players start a game on the grass, skateboarders maneuver the ramps and bowls at the skate park (added in 2003), children race down slides at the playground (added in 2016), and baseball fans continue to fill the bleachers to cheer on the Palm Springs Power. And Wexler’s 1975 Pavilion — host to weddings, concerts, and the summer farmers market — still offers dance classes. Today, it’s tap.
Fifty years on, Sunrise Park continues to evolve. Its next chapter will depend on the care we choose to invest in it.
