IRVINE : Fair to Study Plan to Move Buildings

Plans to relocate farm buildings on Irvine’s Buffalo Ranch to the fairgrounds in Costa Mesa took a step forward this week when the Orange County Fair hired an architectural firm to examine the feasibility of the move.

Thirtieth Street Architects of Newport Beach will craft a plan to move the buildings. The firm also will suggest placement of buildings at the fairgrounds and whether significant restorations are needed, said Georgia Cluver, marketing assistant for the fair.

Meanwhile, fair officials are continuing to discuss the proposal with the Irvine Co., which owns Buffalo Ranch.

The ranch, at the corner of Ford Road and MacArthur Boulevard, was an amusement park in the 1950s known for its odd collection of livestock. In the 1960s, the architects who designed UC Irvine and parts of Newport Beach and Irvine used the site as their headquarters.

Until last month, the ranch buildings were used as offices by several businesses. But the Irvine Co. decided to remove the tenants, in part because an upcoming Ford Road widening project will limit vehicle access to the ranch.

The Buffalo Ranch land is zoned for residential development, and the Irvine Co. has stated its intentions to one day build homes on the site.

Company officials said that moving the buildings to the fairgrounds allows the structures to be preserved in an area where the public can view and use them.

But preservationists who are trying to get the ranch placed on the National Register of Historic Places strongly oppose moving the buildings, saying the ranch is one of the last markers of Irvine’s past.

No final decision on the proposal has been made. The architectural firm will present its findings to the fair board in April. The Irvine Co. is awaiting the results of a separate study on preserving the ranch.

Fair officials have suggested using the ranch buildings as meeting rooms and classrooms.