While the new Sriracha/Huy Fong Foods factory is flourishing over in Irwindale, the old Huy Fong complex on the San Gabriel/Rosemead border is making way for progress: if all goes as planned, by early 2015, a big chunk of the land should have 88 new townhouses on it, says the Pasadena Star-News. The property's always been inhabited by makers of inventive, beloved products: In a pre-Sriracha era, the commercial complex was headquarters for Wham-O, the makers of the original Slip 'N Slide, Hula Hoop, Frisbee, and Super Ball. What will happen to these memories once most of the plant is gone?
Developers Olson Company are eager to preserve the legacy of all these wonderful products and have planned to include in the new townhouse development some kind of public art, a tribute: "either a statue or a plaque or something, that pays homage to the industrial history of the site. So it might be a statue of a rooster with a Hula Hoop or something," says San Gabriel's city planning manager. We're crossing our fingers ...
The demolition process is set to get under way next week, and by the beginning of next year, construction on the houses should be complete. Only a section of the original Huy Fong/Wham-O complex—a piece on the San Gabriel side of the property that was heavily used by Wham-O—will actually be demolished; the other part of the complex—a giant warehouse on the Rosemead side where Huy Fong did most of its operating—will be sold for future industrial use.
· Old Wham-O, Sriracha factory in San Gabriel to be demolished [PSN]
· 10 Photos Inside Irwindale's Notoriously Secret Sriracha Plant [Curbed LA]
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