Preservation efforts can take years, even decades, to bear fruit. Fortunately, our community has recently witnessed first-hand the hugely beneficial results of PSPF's historic preservation efforts.

On June 24, 2011 the Palm Springs Art Museum announced that it had purchased the Santa Fe Federal Savings & Loan building from a local developer. Designed by modernist architect E. Stewart Williams, the new museum building will house "architecture and design exhibitions and programs." To put this purchase in fuller context, it bears remembering that in 2008 and 2009 PSPF's efforts were critical in preventing unsympathetic changes to the building and damaging additions to the site.

Likewise, our house tour efforts in 2010 for PSPF's Wexler Weekend resulted in a renewed sense of community and an increase in architectural appreciation of the Wexler-designed homes in El Rancho Vista Estates. Shortly after the weekend's events, the El Rancho Vista Estates Neighborhood Organization was formed and today it thrives. This happy chain of events was recently chronicled in board member Erik Rosenow's article for the summer 2011 issue of Atomic Ranch magazine.

Recent PSPF grants to the Royal Hawaiian Estates and Park Imperial South homeowners associations, though modest, have also resulted in a renewed appreciation by the residents of lost, but historically important, architectural elements. These PSPF efforts have encouraged the homeowners within these complexes to consider additional improvement projects.

The old saying that "success has many fathers but failure is an orphan," admonishes us not to be too self-congratulatory. However, in a city that sometimes demonstrates a remarkably short memory, it is important to remind our residents and visitors alike that the benefits of historic preservation have long-lasting economic and cultural impacts that should not be underestimated.

President