Rancho Los Alamitos: Rancho Center Grand Opening

On June 10, a festive opening day, the public will be reintroduced to Rancho Los Alamitos— ancestral birthplace of the Tongva people, former working ranch, and little-known urban oasis. Two-thousand visitors are expected to receive a first look inside the new multi-purpose Rancho Center and its compelling Rancho Los Alamitos—Ever Changing, Always the Same, a permanent exhibition that tells the story of the land and its inhabitants over time. The carefully restored Barns Area and gardens will delight and surprise visitors young and old. Opening day will include a civic dedication, performance by the Long Beach Polytechnic High School Aurora Quartet, and ceremonial song and dove release with Tongva-Gabrielino Educator Craig Torres.

 You will see/experience:

• Step inside the Rancho Center’s 1948 Horse Barn— now seamlessly blended into a stunning piece of contemporary architecture by using the barn as its core
• After a four-year closure, tour the historic Barns Area with its with its five relocated and restored agricultural structures
• See the recently returned animals in the barnyard and the workings of the Rancho blacksmith
• Walk through four acres of restored 1920s and 1930s private gardens
• Take a peek inside the original adobe-core ranch house c.1800

WHEN:          Sunday, July 10,

10 a.m.                 Grand Opening Ceremony with RLA and Civic Leaders

LB Poly Aurora Quartet Performance with Rancho Riders

10:30 a.m.           Tongva Coming Home Song by Craig Torres and Dove Release

11 a.m.                 Official Rancho Center Door Opening 

Throughout the Day:      Ongoing music and dance performances as well as map-based and story-telling activities.  The day will also feature food, multi-cultural crafts and ranching demonstrations as well as docent tours.

WHO:           Pamela Seager, Director, RLA Foundation      

Beverly O’Neill, Founding Member, RLA Foundation Board of Trustees

Bob Foster, Mayor, City of Long Beach

Don Knabe, Los Angeles County Supervisor

Craig Torres, Native American Tongva Member and Educator

The young musicians of Long Beach Polytechnic High School Aurora Quartet

Other notable guests include Former Governor George Deukmejian; Former First Lady and RLA Board Member Gloria Deukmejian; RLA Board Member and Long Beach First Lady Nancy Foster; State Senator Alan Lowenthal; State Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal;  Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal; and Long Beach Councilman Patrick O’Donnell.

The Barns Area Restoration and Rancho Center Project re-establishes the historic character of the barnyard at Rancho Los Alamitos by re-creating the functional layout of the buildings, barnyard landscape and barnyard style of the early working ranch.  Livestock and ranch animals populate the barnyard as they did during the heyday of California ranching.  As part of the restoration, four 20th century barns have been relocated and restored. The Horse Barn has been expanded and adaptively re-used as the new Rancho Center, a remarkable educational facility which utilizes the voices of Rancho Los Alamitos over time to reveal the layers of the landscape, native people and newcomers.

The new Rancho Center emerges as the heart of Rancho Los Alamitos.  Its public spaces, classroom, meeting and conference areas, spectacular floor and wall murals, visitor orientation center and interpretive display graphics present the 1500-year history of the ranch through voices and images of the people and the evolving landscape through time.

Parking at CSULB, Lot 11, with free shuttles to the Rancho. Only a limited number of visitors will be able to view the Rancho Center during the afternoon. Please make your reservation upon arriving on site.