The old mill
The Sunny-Cal Milling facility, an industrial relic at the corner of Oriental Avenue and Texas Street, may not be long for this world.
Monday, Redlands' Environmental Review Committee decided to move a proposal to demolish the mill on to the Historic and Scenic Preservation Commission. Community Development Director Jeff Shaw said the commission could make a decision on the project in January.
San Bernardino-based Harber Companies has proposed the demolition.
"We plan on putting in an upscale retail center there," the company's Bob Harber said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
The Sunny-Cal facility has been out of commission during the months that I have covered Redlands. Shaw told me the facility was used in the past by truckers who would pick up animal feed to be hauled to other destinations.
Here's a link that shows a photo:
The demolition proposal is required to go before the town's preservation commission because the milling facility is more than 50 years old. According to a city document, the building was built around 1938 and is currently "in disrepair and appears to be infested with pigeons and rodents."
The document also states that the mill's structural integrity has been compromised by weather and wear and that the place isn't safe for visitors.
If the Sunny-Cal mill is indeed torn down, city officials would likely retain a set of photos showing what the place used to look like. A document prepared by Redlands associate planner Tamara Alaniz states that the site is not historically significant but that archival photographs should be delivered the A.K. Smiley Public Library and the city's planning division.