Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly

Blending the past and the future, the Limoneira Pavilion opened Tuesday detailing Santa Paula’s rich history and what the pioneering agricultural company has in the city’s future with the proposed development of East Area 1. The Pavilion will also be a community gathering place, as well as serve as a conduit of information about the proposed development that will be decided by area voters in February.

Limoneira Co. President/CEO Harold Edwards welcomed the crowd of elected officials and community members to the Pavilion, located at the Limoneira Mercantile at the corner of Hallock Drive and Highway 126. Edwards said that those attending the dedication were a “great group, a diverse cross-section of the community” who “appreciated and were impressed by the amount of information” offered on the city’s history, as well as on the proposed East Area 1 development.

The history of Santa Paula and Limoneira is almost synonymous, with the agricultural giant founded in 1893 in the then just emerging city described in a 1877 area newspaper as a new town. “There is a direct parallel of the development of the community and Limoneira that many recognize, and after they spent time at the Pavilion” they learned even more... for those unaware of local history, the exhibits offer a fascinating education.

The Limoneira Pavilion will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. “Limoneira is trying to get company retirees” for Pavilion staff who “can tell both stories... Santa Paula’s and Limoneira’s,” said Edwards. A full calendar of events is being finalized, although the Pavilion “will be opened up for use by service clubs and organizations, a new venue for community use.”

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