Loma Linda and Redlands Residents Want to Save Packinghouse

On Tuesday, supporters of the Redlands packinghouse waited to hear the fate of the 100-year-old building.

The Redlands City Council discussed a possible sale of the Mutual Orange Distributors packinghouse at 330 N. Third St. on Tuesday, but took no reportable action, said Carl Baker, public information officer for the city.

For Loma Linda and Redlands supporters, this means continued vigilance over what will become of one of the last citrus packinghouses left in the area.

The city has been looking to sell the building for some time. Members of the Redlands Conservancy, local historians and now members of the Redlands Tea Party Patriots are rallying to save the building. Among those expressing interesting in the property is George Krikorian, owner of Krikorian Theaters.

Members of the conservancy say they received documents that show the city  intends to sell the building, purchased in 2006 for more than $900,000, to Krikorian for $260,000.

While the monetary loss is bad, historians worry the loss to local history would be just as great.

At one time, some 27 packinghouses dotted the valley throughout San Bernardino, Redlands, Highland, Colton and Loma Linda, said Dick Wylie, of Loma Linda. His family owned and operated the Bryn Mawr Coachella Valley Grove packing, which eventually closed in the 1980’s.

“As of right now there is only one active packinghouse still in existence (in the region),” he said. “And that’s the Redlands Foothill (Groves) Packing House.”

Many of them were destroyed, some by fire, he said.

Time has slowly cut the number of packinghouses all over Southern California. It has also been unkind to the Redlands packinghouse as well. A letter written by Krikorian to Redlands City Manager N. Enrique Martinez, referred to the poor condition of the building.

Still, supporters want Redlands to consider renovating the building and finding a use for it. Wylie, who had first-hand experience with the inner workings of a packinghouse, said a city needs to hold onto as much of its history as possible.

Wylie hopes the council would consider saving it, as it is essential to pass on the history to the young, he said.

“It’s a good idea for people to see how it was done,” he said.

“Go back and ask a kid where milk comes from,” he said. “They’ll say,  ‘From a milk carton.’ If you ask ‘Well how’d you get the carton?’ They say, ‘well it’s on a shelf.’ Fruits are in the store. Where do they come from? They don’t know.”

He also pointed out that other cities, such as Upland, have successfully renovated buildings to use as retail. This way the city can keep a piece of its history and turn somewhat of a profit.

“It is a part of the area’s history,” Wylie said. “Once you lose it, it’s gone.”