Rally planned around Reedley building

REEDLEY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A group of Reedley residents was set to make its last stand to try to save what they call a building of historical significance.

The Grangers building in Reedley has sat vacant for nine years. The old grain warehouse near the twin water towers dates back to 1892.

Kings Canyon Unified bought the building from the state for a dollar. It planned to tear it down and eventually build a new district office.

Deputy Superintendent John Quinto said the building has been deemed structurally unsafe.

Quinto explained, "Really worried about the west side of the building. You can see the collapsing of the structure and masonry work. There's some cross diagonal cracks in the masonry. Now that we own the building it goes to our liability."

But Sunday afternoon some people in Reedley planned to gather to actually hug the building. They want it preserved.

Horacio Aleman called a "grandpa building."

"What do we do when grandpa gets old? We help him out," said Aleman. "We walk him. We try to do as much as we can for him and I think that's how we have to look at this building."

Aleman used to work here when the Sun Maid Company moved raisins out by rail.

"We look at it as part of us and when we hear that they're going to knock down something that part of us it hurts," Aleman added.

Plans called to bring down this building brick by brick but Kathy Omachi said each one carries historical significance. "The bricks that were made for this building were hand-made by Chinese laborers in 1892 that were sent from northern California and the Fresno area."

The group said the shell of the building could be stabilized and re-used but the district says that would add six million dollars to the cost of the project.

Quinto said, "My first responsibility is to ensure public safety as a public servant."

Preservation supporters hoped to have enough people to surround the Grangers building on Sunday.