Fair’s journey reflected in its buildings
By Darren Simon
The California Mid-Winter Fair has been an indelible part of the Imperial Valley’s history, bringing together communities for 118 years.
As the Valley prepares for this year’s fair, scheduled March 1-10 and themed “Red, White & Moo,” work is underway around the Imperial Valley Fairgrounds and its buildings. Each has its own story to tell.
It’s a journey that reveals fascinating details of a different time in the Valley and connects the past to the present.
“What I want people to understand is that there is a historical value to the buildings here at the Imperial Valley Fairgrounds, and we are thankful to have them,” said Alan Phillips, the fairgrounds chief executive officer. “We are doing our best to protect that history and these buildings, so they are here for a long time to come for our community.”
The journey begins with stories of transplanted buildings either moved by rail or truck to the fair from various locations throughout the Imperial Valley and reconstructed to serve the fair’s needs.
Just beyond the entrance to the fairgrounds are The Hulsienda and The Lifestyle buildings, both of which have been a part of the fairgrounds since the late 1940s. Though The Hulsienda has been shuttered for two years after suffering severe storm damage, it has served as a facility for school and competitive exhibits and will serve that way again in the future. The Lifestyle building today serves as a maintenance building for the fairgrounds.
However, in another time, both buildings were part of a tuberculosis quarantine facility known as TB Sands, located near a military installation east of Holtville during World War II. The Hulsienda was actually a theater playhouse at TB Sands.
When the war effort ended, both buildings were deconstructed and transported by rail to the fairgrounds, where they were rebuilt to serve new purposes. The Lifestyle building first served as home to Pioneers’ Museum before transitioning into a maintenance facility.
The Hulsienda has a special meaning for Phillips.
He described how, when he was a boy growing up in the Valley, he would eat at a restaurant across the road from the fairgrounds and see a caldron atop the Hulsienda glowing with neon lights, as if flames were rising from the caldron.
“It was like a beacon for the fair,” Phillips said, adding his goal is to not only complete repairs to the building, but return it to its earlier glory when the neon lights beckoned people to the fairgrounds.
The large Preble and Casa De Manana buildings were also transplanted to the fair in the mid-1950s. Both previously served as hangars at the Imperial County Airport but were given new life at the fairgrounds, where they were reconstructed after being trucked there from the airport.
James Jones, a maintenance worker at the fairgrounds for 20 years, whose father, Eddie Jones, also served as maintenance staff for 37 years at the fairgrounds before retiring, said it was likely less expensive to transport existing buildings to the fairgrounds as the complex expanded than to build new facilities.
Jones pointed out the Preble Building is named after the late Andy Preble, who worked in construction in the Imperial Valley, and helped perfect the use of gunite, a sprayed form of concrete often used to construct pools. Preble used his gunite materials to build up the exterior walls of both the Preble and Casa De Manana buildings.
It took the efforts of community members like Preble, fair board members, county supervisors, a team of maintenance workers, and even inmates from the county jail to build the fairgrounds’ transplanted buildings and other structures such as the barns and the grandstands.
“They (the inmates), along with seven permanent maintenance staff, helped build this place,” Jones said.
The growth of the fairgrounds was also possible thanks to the efforts of leaders, like the late Sen. Ben Hulse, an Imperial Valley resident in the 1920s and ‘30s, who ran an auto and tractor dealership close to the fairgrounds. As a senator in the early 1930s, he helped get the fair designated as a District Agricultural Association, which helped bring growth to the fairgrounds.
The grandstands, home of events throughout the fair ranging from High School Madness to dirt track competition, represent another sign of that growth and a connection to the Valley’s history.
Construction on the grandstands was completed in the early 1930s. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the grandstands area became a National Guard headquarters to support the war effort. Buildings erected at the grandstands became barracks, an armory and motor pool. After the war, a fallout shelter was built beneath the grandstands.
During the post-war drawdown, the military returned the facilities to the fairgrounds and the grandstand took on its role as a fair entertainment complex. The fallout shelter was eventually filled in and sealed off but remains intact.
“We still have the sign that says, ‘radioactive fallout shelter’,” Phillips said, adding that fairgoers see the sign when they enter the grandstand through the northside tunnel. “We kept the sign up for its historical value.”
Another facility actually built on site is the fair’s board room. Before serving that purpose, it served as a fire station based at the fairgrounds, and somewhere—perhaps still in the Valley—is the firetruck based at that station, Phillips said.
The Imperial Valley Raceway at the fairgrounds, which features sprint cars and other auto racing, once served a different purpose as well. Through the 1920s and 1930s, it was much longer, stretching a mile and it served as a horse race facility, during a time when horse racing was connected to most fairs around the country.
“At one point it (the horse racing circuit) stopped here, and then in the 1970s, they tried to bring it back, but it didn’t work,” Jones said.
The Turn One Saloon at the fairgrounds is located at what historically was turn one of the original horse track.
At the time of the horse racing, there were horse barns on the grounds, and Phillips pointed out that when those barns were torn down, the wood was reclaimed and today can be seen as part of the décor in such facilities as the boardroom and the Rustic Bar, located underneath the grandstands.
Along with serving the needs of the horses, the fairgrounds provided apartments for the jockeys. That building still exists on the fairgrounds near the fair’s entrance, behind the Palm Stage, though today it serves as a storage facility.
Over the years, the buildings at the fairgrounds have been updated and renovated but always with an eye toward retaining each building’s historical importance.
“They are still here,” Jones said of the fair’s older buildings and facilities. “They are still part of the fabric of the fair’s history.”
In that sense, he added, “They are still very much alive.”
The California Mid-Winter Fair has been an indelible part of the Imperial Valley’s history, bringing together communities for 118 years.
As the Valley prepares for this year’s fair, scheduled March 1-10 and themed “Red, White & Moo,” work is underway around the Imperial Valley Fairgrounds and its buildings. Each has its own story to tell.
It’s a journey that reveals fascinating details of a different time in the Valley and connects the past to the present.
“What I want people to understand is that there is a historical value to the buildings here at the Imperial Valley Fairgrounds, and we are thankful to have them,” said Alan Phillips, the fairgrounds chief executive officer. “We are doing our best to protect that history and these buildings, so they are here for a long time to come for our community.”
The journey begins with stories of transplanted buildings either moved by rail or truck to the fair from various locations throughout the Imperial Valley and reconstructed to serve the fair’s needs.
Just beyond the entrance to the fairgrounds are The Hulsienda and The Lifestyle buildings, both of which have been a part of the fairgrounds since the late 1940s. Though The Hulsienda has been shuttered for two years after suffering severe storm damage, it has served as a facility for school and competitive exhibits and will serve that way again in the future. The Lifestyle building today serves as a maintenance building for the fairgrounds.
However, in another time, both buildings were part of a tuberculosis quarantine facility known as TB Sands, located near a military installation east of Holtville during World War II. The Hulsienda was actually a theater playhouse at TB Sands.
When the war effort ended, both buildings were deconstructed and transported by rail to the fairgrounds, where they were rebuilt to serve new purposes. The Lifestyle building first served as home to Pioneers’ Museum before transitioning into a maintenance facility.
The Hulsienda has a special meaning for Phillips.
He described how, when he was a boy growing up in the Valley, he would eat at a restaurant across the road from the fairgrounds and see a caldron atop the Hulsienda glowing with neon lights, as if flames were rising from the caldron.
“It was like a beacon for the fair,” Phillips said, adding his goal is to not only complete repairs to the building, but return it to its earlier glory when the neon lights beckoned people to the fairgrounds.
The large Preble and Casa De Manana buildings were also transplanted to the fair in the mid-1950s. Both previously served as hangars at the Imperial County Airport but were given new life at the fairgrounds, where they were reconstructed after being trucked there from the airport.
James Jones, a maintenance worker at the fairgrounds for 20 years, whose father, Eddie Jones, also served as maintenance staff for 37 years at the fairgrounds before retiring, said it was likely less expensive to transport existing buildings to the fairgrounds as the complex expanded than to build new facilities.
Jones pointed out the Preble Building is named after the late Andy Preble, who worked in construction in the Imperial Valley, and helped perfect the use of gunite, a sprayed form of concrete often used to construct pools. Preble used his gunite materials to build up the exterior walls of both the Preble and Casa De Manana buildings.
It took the efforts of community members like Preble, fair board members, county supervisors, a team of maintenance workers, and even inmates from the county jail to build the fairgrounds’ transplanted buildings and other structures such as the barns and the grandstands.
“They (the inmates), along with seven permanent maintenance staff, helped build this place,” Jones said.
The growth of the fairgrounds was also possible thanks to the efforts of leaders, like the late Sen. Ben Hulse, an Imperial Valley resident in the 1920s and ‘30s, who ran an auto and tractor dealership close to the fairgrounds. As a senator in the early 1930s, he helped get the fair designated as a District Agricultural Association, which helped bring growth to the fairgrounds.
The grandstands, home of events throughout the fair ranging from High School Madness to dirt track competition, represent another sign of that growth and a connection to the Valley’s history.
Construction on the grandstands was completed in the early 1930s. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the grandstands area became a National Guard headquarters to support the war effort. Buildings erected at the grandstands became barracks, an armory and motor pool. After the war, a fallout shelter was built beneath the grandstands.
During the post-war drawdown, the military returned the facilities to the fairgrounds and the grandstand took on its role as a fair entertainment complex. The fallout shelter was eventually filled in and sealed off but remains intact.
“We still have the sign that says, ‘radioactive fallout shelter’,” Phillips said, adding that fairgoers see the sign when they enter the grandstand through the northside tunnel. “We kept the sign up for its historical value.”
Another facility actually built on site is the fair’s board room. Before serving that purpose, it served as a fire station based at the fairgrounds, and somewhere—perhaps still in the Valley—is the firetruck based at that station, Phillips said.
The Imperial Valley Raceway at the fairgrounds, which features sprint cars and other auto racing, once served a different purpose as well. Through the 1920s and 1930s, it was much longer, stretching a mile and it served as a horse race facility, during a time when horse racing was connected to most fairs around the country.
“At one point it (the horse racing circuit) stopped here, and then in the 1970s, they tried to bring it back, but it didn’t work,” Jones said.
The Turn One Saloon at the fairgrounds is located at what historically was turn one of the original horse track.
At the time of the horse racing, there were horse barns on the grounds, and Phillips pointed out that when those barns were torn down, the wood was reclaimed and today can be seen as part of the décor in such facilities as the boardroom and the Rustic Bar, located underneath the grandstands.
Along with serving the needs of the horses, the fairgrounds provided apartments for the jockeys. That building still exists on the fairgrounds near the fair’s entrance, behind the Palm Stage, though today it serves as a storage facility.
Over the years, the buildings at the fairgrounds have been updated and renovated but always with an eye toward retaining each building’s historical importance.
“They are still here,” Jones said of the fair’s older buildings and facilities. “They are still part of the fabric of the fair’s history.”
In that sense, he added, “They are still very much alive.”