Bono’s Orange may reopen March 3, 2010

In a lengthy story about Southern California’s fast-disappearing orange stands, the Los Angeles Times reports that the long-closed Bono’s Historic Orange on Route 66 in Fontana, Calif., may be reopened to sell orange juice again.

Joe Bono, who is in his 70s, can remember citrus groves stretching as far as he could see during his boyhood in Fontana. His family settled in the area to farm 200 acres of vineyards. To help pay the bills, his mother in 1936 opened a restaurant and deli with an orange stand on Route 66, now Foothill Boulevard. [...]

The Bono stand stayed open until late at night, a beacon for tourists driving after dark to avoid the heat. They bought oranges and lemons, olives, honey and souvenirs to take home to their families back East. [...]

Bono, a retired lawyer, took over the restaurant business after his mother died in the 1990s. More than 10 years ago, the Fontana Historical Society, of which Bono is a member, got word that a stand three miles east was going to be destroyed. The society moved it to a Wal-Mart parking lot, then Bono paid to have it moved to the parking area of Bono’s Restaurant & Deli, where it still sits, restored but unused.

That could change. Bono has been remodeling the restaurant, adding a wine bar, among other changes.

He also has plans for the orange. “When I reopen this stand, I think I’m going to sell OJ out of it, like an Orange Julius,” he said.

The eventual reopening of Bono’s restaurant, plus possibly the orange bar, is very good news. When going by the restaurant this summer, it appeared there was a lot of activity going on inside, even though it was closed. The Times’ report explains a lot.

UPDATE: On a related note, the Society for Commercial Archaeology today named its 10 Most Endangered Roadside Places list. California’s roadside orange stands made the list. The group explained:

Orange blossoms, back-dropped by snow covered mountains, form an enduring image of Southern California. Tourists driving Route 66 between San Bernardino and Monrovia inhaled the sweet smell of the citrus orchards lining the highway. Similar scenes were seen on US Highway 99, tracing through the agricultural middle section of the state. In the 1920s, with the rise of auto tourism, enterprising citrus ranchers opened roadside fruit stands. Stands designed to look like huge oranges were an innovation that drew attention from drivers. From a window in the “orange,” attendants sold bags of fruit, snacks, and, of course, fresh juice.

Threat
Changes in land use patterns and the widening of highways resulted in destruction or relocating dozens of these stands. Now only a handful still exist in California: in Dixon, San Jose, Williams, Chowchilla, Shasta Lake and Fontana—most of them moved and none selling fresh-squeezed orange juice. While Fontana’s Orange Stand was saved, it now sits restored but unused in the parking lot of Bono’s Italian Restaurant and Deli. The Mammoth Orange, owned by the City of Chowchilla, awaits a new owner, while the orange in Williams continues to deteriorate behind a chain-link fence.

Others on the endangered list are Buckhorn Baths in Mesa, Ariz.; Clark County Rest Area in Kentucky; Pig Stand Coffee Shop No. 41 in Beaumont, Texas; Motel Drive in Lordsburg, N.M.; Dinosaur World in Beaver, Ark.; Garrison Concourse in Garrison, Minn.; Vale Rio Diner in Phoenixville, Pa.; Tex Randall giant in Canyon, Texas; and Teapot Dome Gas Station, Zillah, Wash.