Nearly a year after it was shut down by Smithfield Foods, the iconic — and sometimes controversial with the neighbors and animal activists — former Farmer John processing plant in Vernon, Calif., is meeting the ultimate demise via the wrecking ball, according to a local news report.
Smithfield announced in June 2022 that it would close the facility, citing the high cost of operating the plant as the primary reason, and did shutter the plant in February 2023. The plant was opened in 1931 and became iconic as much for the pastoral agricultural murals painted on its exterior, street-facing walls, as it did for its production of the beloved “Dodger Dog” served at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Major League Baseball games.
It also withstood high-profile activist protests given its proximity to Hollywood and the celebrities that occasionally joined animal welfare causes, as well as harsh criticism from neighbors for unpleasant odors that were pinned on the plant’s production and emissions.
The news report stated that the land was purchased by global industrial property firm Goodman Group in the summer of 2023.
