Madera County officials planning to bring back Mammoth Orange Hamburger stand

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Discarded like an old orange peel a slice of Americana sits on the edge of the parking lot of the Fossil Discovery Center on Avenue 21 and a half -- just off Highway 99 in Madera County.

With its chipped paint and weathered metal. It is a shell of its former self, but many should remember this giant sphere as the Mammoth Orange Hamburger stand that doubled as a tourist spot in Fairmead for decades.

Just walking around the iconic orange brings back memories for Don Warnock. His family frequented the hamburger stand long before it closed down more than a decade ago.

"Up and down the freeway I could remember several of them. This one I could remember was on the Fairmead by the freeway and I can remember eating lunch there many many times," said Madera Sunrise Rotary Don Warnock.

Locals want to bring those memories back to life. The Madera rotary clubs and San Joaquin Valley Paleontology Foundation have joined together to restore California's last giant orange shaped hamburger stand.

"The public can see it as an exhibit but we will have food events as time goes on and hopefully be serving food regularly," said Fossil Discovery Center Director Michele Pecina.

Along with the public's help project organizers are hoping to return the hamburger stand back to its original glory in about a year's time.

"So many people are donating because they're so fond of it. They'll donate maybe the dirt maybe the cement work. People are coming forward to donate in that way," said Pecina.