Costa Mesa / Irvine : Landmark Buildings Due at Fairgrounds

The two remaining landmark Buffalo Ranch buildings were propped up on jacks and readied for an eight-mile journey that was to end about 3 a.m. today at the Orange County Fairgrounds.

The buildings were destined for the Centennial Farm, where they will house administrative offices and educational programs.

Judy Liebeck, curator of the Irvine Historical Society, fought to preserve the original 15 brick-red, farm-style buildings that were erected in 1955 for the short-lived Buffalo Ranch amusement park. All but two of the 15 buildings were recently demolished.

Council members last summer voted in favor of moving the buildings to the fairgrounds, balking at preservation costs estimated at more than $1 million.

“The community is poorer for allowing this to happen,” Liebeck said. “Once again, the Irvine Co. got everything it wanted.”

Carol Hoffman, Irvine Co. vice president of entitlement, said numerous alternatives for preserving the site were explored. The company’s proposed Bonita Canyon Village residential development is planned for the site.

“The city encouraged us to negotiate with the (Orange County) Fair,” Hoffman said. “We felt this was a much more practical use, rather than let them sit on the corner where people just drive by.”

In 1960, the late architect William Pereira located a satellite office at the Buffalo Ranch buildings while creating the first master plan for the city of Irvine.

Pereira sold the buildings in 1983 to William Lange, who operated his real estate business at the site. After moving earlier this year, Lange gave the buildings to the Irvine Co.