The fairgrounds memorial for farm workers is under renovation only 9 months after its unveiling
Nine months after it was officially unveiled during a ceremony at the OC Fair & Event Center, a memorial meant to recognize the plight of farm workers remains a work in progress and needs to be renovated to ensure it is structurally sound.
The art piece, “Table of Dignity,” sits near Centennial Farm at the fairgrounds in Costa Mesa and features two large-scale portals built from rammed earth — a technique that involves constructing walls out of tightly packed soil and other natural materials.
Now it is surrounded by fencing, with a banner declaring it “under renovation,” and depicting renderings showing what the product will look like, whenever it’s finished.
“The rammed earth approach created some challenges in terms of the structural integrity in some parts of the construction,” according to a statement provided to the Daily Pilot Friday by a fairgrounds spokeswoman. “Therefore, we are going to make the necessary renovations to successfully complete the project while maintaining our general vision and theme.”
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The extent of the renovations necessary to bring the memorial up to snuff is still being evaluated. It’s not yet known when the memorial will be completed, as work is being postponed due to the upcoming OC Fair, which opens July 15.
The intention remains “to create an agricultural workers memorial that is structurally sound and pleasing to our guests,” the fairgrounds spokeswoman said.
It’s unknown at this time how much the renovation work will add to the project’s budget, initially set at $90,000.
Fairgrounds watchdog Reggie Mundekis brought the state of the memorial to the Daily Pilot’s attention this week.
“This was supposed to be a structural element that was meant to last many, many years, essentially they were building an outdoor room,” she said in an interview. “And it’s already falling apart.”
Mundekis said officials at the fairgrounds should have been more vigilant in ensuring the monument was being built correctly and more forthcoming when problems arose.
“There’s good reason to believe it has to be demolished and rebuilt because of the structural issues,” she said.
About 200 people attended a ceremony held last Labor Day to unveil the memorial, which also features a wooden table supported by a boulder, symbolizing a place where all can sit as equals and celebrate Orange County’s agricultural history.
Even then it was still a work in progress.
Table of Dignity was conceptualized by two artists — Costa Mesa native Ricardo Mendoza and Josh Sarantitis. The Fair Board approved the idea in 2013.
In a news release sent out in October of that year, officials said the expectation was to complete the piece in time for the 2014 OC Fair.
“Unfortunately, it was not completed by the artists according to the contracted timeline,” according to the fairgrounds spokeswoman.
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Luke Money, lucas.money@latimes.com
Twitter: @LukeMMoney
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