Fairgrounds memorial’s troubles get first public airing from board
The troubled state of a memorial at the OC Fair & Event Center dedicated to the plight of farmworkers became a hot topic during Thursday’s Fair Board meeting, with one director saying the fairgrounds is “re-renovating” it.
“Table of Dignity,” first unveiled on Labor Day as a work in progress, has remained so nine months later because of structural issues that were first made public in a Daily Pilot story last week. The memorial is now fenced off, with a sign declaring it “under renovation.”
Thursday’s discussion of the memorial’s problems appeared to be the first time the board has talked about the matter in open session. Though board members have for years routinely received updates on fairgrounds projects — namely the Heroes Hall veterans museum and Plaza Pacifica — the progress of “Table of Dignity,” or lack thereof, was analyzed in private with the artists who made it and the fairgrounds legal team.
Board member Nick Berardino, a retired union leader who spearheaded the memorial and serves on a task force focused on it, said he preferred to keep it that way.
“There are times that are better done privately,” he said.
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Berardino said the public has a right to know what happened, but only when “we’re done doing our jobs” as appointed custodians of the fairgrounds property. He recommended that if people want to be more involved with the fairgrounds, they should apply with the governor to be on the Fair Board.
“Table of Dignity,” originally budgeted at $90,000, includes two portals made of rammed earth, a building technique involving tightly packed soil. Between the portals is a 14-ton boulder with a wooden table embedded on it. Costa Mesa native Ricardo Mendoza and Josh Sarantitis, a New York-based artist, were commissioned for the work.
Board member Stan Tkaczyk noted that the memorial hasn’t been just another construction project; it’s art.
“It wasn’t something that were not watching. We were,” he said. “I think we all learned that when we’re dealing with art, it’s a little different situation. Now we’re going to move forward and we’re going to make something very beautiful.”
Additional funds for “Table of Dignity” or a renovation schedule, which could involve a complete rebuild, have not been finalized.
The intent remains “to create an agricultural workers memorial that is structurally sound and pleasing to our guests,” an OC Fair & Event Center spokeswoman told the Pilot last week.
Fairgrounds watchdog Reggie Mundekis, who uncovered the state of the memorial through public records requests, told the board that “it’s not surprising that there’s problems trying to construct something” using the rammed-earth technique.
Mundekis said the board should have kept the public in the loop about delays and other issues from the beginning instead of putting the matter in a “black hole” for months.
Being upfront is “a much more fruitful approach in the long run,” she said.
Berardino said Orange County farmworkers, and labor in general, deserve a worthy memorial. He lamented that the project tried to be innovative but hasn’t yet worked out as planned.
Berardino said he likes the rammed-earth approach because it will make “Table of Dignity” “out of the very earth on which they toiled.”
“I think those workers,” he said, “deserve a chance at having this built from their ground.”
Luke Money contributed to this report.
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Bradley Zint, bradley.zint@latimes.com
Twitter: @BradleyZint
