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The Metabolic
Studio Supports Legal Defense Fund for Landmark
Orange County Orchard
SANTA ANA, CA (May 11,
2012) - The Metabolic Studio has made a generous
grant of
$10,000 to the Santa Ana Historical Preservation
Society on behalf of Santa Ana-based
Save Our Orchard Coalition for support of the
organization’s legal defense fund. The
coalition is fighting to preserve the Sexlinger
Family Farm, the largest remaining intact
orange orchard in the city of Santa Ana, located
in Orange County, California.
“We are extremely grateful to the Metabolic
Studio and the Annenberg Foundation for
supporting the Save Our Orchard Coalition’s
legal initiatives,” said organization cofounder,
Jeannie Gillett. “This historically-significant
orchard faces possible destruction
in order to make way for the construction of 24
housing units. We are so thankful to the
Metabolic Studio for this grant award.”
“The vision that the Save Our Orchard Coalition
has for the Sexlinger orange grove is
one that can be embraced by anyone who cares
about local food, fresh air, healthy soils
and community resilience,” said Jaime Lopez
Wolters, Agriculturalist and representative
of the Metabolic Studio. “They realize the
importance of agricultural lands in our urban
environments and deserve the full support of the
local community. We hope the funds
provided will help keep the momentum behind this
important endeavor.”
According to Gillett, the grant could not have
come at a better time.
“The Santa Ana Historic Commission recently
voted against placing this irreplaceable
piece of our agricultural history and heritage
on the city’s register of historic properties.
This grant helps to fund our appeal of that
decision.”
The site retains 230 Valencia orange trees and a
modest Craftsman Bungalow built in
1914. This five-acre parcel, purchased in 1913,
was the home of the Sexlinger family for
nearly 100 years. The last family member died in
2006. This orchard and home
represent the typical family citrus operation,
hundreds of which dotted the Orange
County landscape from the late 1800’s through
the 1940’s. The demand for housing by
servicemen returning from WW II prompted the
sale and development of large tracts of
land and by the 1960’s much of the farm land had
disappeared.
“Today, Orange County has less than 80 acres of
citrus remaining,” said Gillett. “I know
of no other property in the entire county that
represents our agricultural history like the
Sexlinger orchard does. It’s like walking into
our past.”
This grant is a significant step towards
realizing their goal.
“As with any grass-roots organization, we need
people to help spread the word about
our efforts and to attend public meetings to
show their support for saving this unique
gem within our city,” said Gillett. “We are also
hoping to find some angel investors who
recognize this resource - a century-old intact
orchard farm - has greater value to our
community than 24 additional houses.”
The Save Our Orchard Coalition is made up of
members of the community and aligned
organizations working to preserve the historic
Sexlinger orange orchard. Support for
Save Our Orchard Coalition has been provided by
the Metabolic Studio, a direct
charitable activity of the Annenberg Foundation.
The property is located at 1584 East
Santa Clara Avenue, between Grand and Tustin
Avenues in the city of Santa Ana. For
more information, visit
www.saveourorchard.org.
Want to help support
the work the Society is doing to help preserve
Santa Ana history and, in particular, the Dr.
Howe-Waffle House? Please consider an
extra donation or membership today.
Orange County History
Books
We have one of the
widest collection of Santa Ana and Orange County
history books around. If you would like to order
any of them, visit our
Store link for the books available online
and for a copy of our latest mail-in book order
form. If there is a book you think we have
that isn't listed, email us at
sahps@sahps.org
Old Society Newsletters
Posted
It's fun to go through some of our newsletters and
see what the Society was doing during the 1980s
and 90s (and also who was preserving what home
and received various awards). We've posted
most of the issues (including our first 4) on
this site. Some files are large (6 to 11
MB in size), but they're all easily viewable as
PDF files.
Click here
to view some of the old issues.
This Place
Matters!
-- The Dr. Howe-Waffle House has been included in a
national online program to highlight "places that matter." The photo shows the recent
painting and roofing renovation.
Click here for the National Trust link.
Thanks to Nicholas Ball for being our spokesmodel.
»
Other old News and Information
from this Home Page......... |
