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The Santa Paula Mill and Depot

Overview

The Mill, originally built in 1887 by a fabricated kit, was owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad. It later became a lima bean warehouse. It is now a branch of the Museum of Ventura County which holds vintage farm implements, photographs, journals, wind machines, tractors, and other equipment, as well as portrayals of Santa Paula’s historic link to farming and the future of agriculture.

McCarthy acted as the general contractor who did the complete $2.6M renovation of the building in 2011. Renovations required a towering crane to place the new trusses that were installed at The Mill which required purlin bracing in between the new trusses. The Depot renovation contained foundation work and sheer walls installed in the front of the building that faces 10th Street. Other work includes electrical upgrading and the new exterior paint job, the latter a convoluted process that required experimentation on how best to remove the lead paint, which led to the use of chemicals and heat for stripping.

Architect: KBZ Architects