Consolidated Orange Growers Precooling & Ice Plant

Consolidated Orange Growers Precooling & Ice Plant is a winner for the 2025 Preservation Design Award for Rehabilitation. Award recipients are selected by a jury of top professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, planning, and history, as well as renowned architecture critics and journalists. Tickets and sponsorship options are available at californiapreservation.org/programs/awards/.

About Consolidated Orange Growers Precooling & Ice Plant

The building has recently been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Precooling Plant is constructed of poured and formed concrete exterior walls, insulated with a minimum of 4″ thick corkboard. The style of the building is simple, its walls unadorned, responsive to the intended industrial purpose. The Consolidated Orange Growers closed their facility in 1964. The building was utilized in many industrial uses for the next fifty years, the most recent being a tire retreading facility, prior to its current mixed-use occupancy.  The property was sold for land-value only due to its deteriorated state.  The project has taken years, being phased, to achieve its current condition.  It is a thriving example of an adaptive reuse facility, generating positive energy for its occupants and it is a financial success.  There is value in repurposing existing architecture, and good design pays dividends beyond anything any new building could.

Community Importance

The project weaves together historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and environmental responsibility. The entire building has been repurposed, and many original components have been recycled, thus preventing excessive landfill. It’s within a short walk to the City’s Plaza District, a pedestrian friendly commercial area. It is also conducive to the ideal live/work quality of life.

The building remains in the place where the original activity occurred and is sufficiently intact to convey that relationship to an observer.  The property is often the subject of historic tours and talks, for the architecture and preservation community. The property retains integrity of association with events that have made a meaningful contribution to the community. Located in a transportation-oriented district (TOD) the property contributes to the well-being of the community, reducing the demand for vehicular transportation. The pedestrian friendly environment encourages exercise and mobility for occupants and guests. The building is a laboratory for discovery as one learns about the history of the local citrus industry and can view the features of the building and its role during the process of packing and delivery of the fruit.  Visitors learn how the building functioned, and its significant role in the local history.

About CPF and the Awards

The California Preservation Awards are a statewide hallmark, showcasing the best in historic preservation. The awards ceremony includes the presentation of the Preservation Design Awards and the President’s Awards, bringing together hundreds of people each year to share and celebrate excellence in preservation.

The California Preservation Foundation (CPF), a 501c3 nonprofit, was incorporated in 1978. We now support a national network of more than 36,000 members and supporters. Click here to learn how you can become a member.