Project And Site History
Lewis Group of Companies
Ralph and Goldy Lewis founded their home-building firm in 1955 with an emphasis on a tradition of quality, integrity and stability. Now under the direction of the second and third generations of the Lewis family, those same philosophies still drive the privately held company today. The Lewis Group has produced more than 56,000 homes, 10,000 apartments and 12 million square feet of retail/office/industrial space to date. With an ever-increasing focus on the design principles of sustainability and "growing smart", each new community Lewis envisions benefits from the experience gained and lessons learned from the last one.
Through extensive community outreach and cooperation with local governments, the Lewis Group works to create a unified vision for each new development they undertake. Acting as the master developer from initial conceptualization through build-out, Lewis is able to retain control and effectively orchestrate the realization the approved vision for each new neighborhood.
Specifically, the Cannery Park development proposal is locally managed by the Northern California office of Lewis Planned Communities based in Sacramento. Bill Mellerup (Vice President of Community Development) and Ken Topper (Director of Community Development) are responsible for bringing Cannery Park to life.
The OLD CANNERY (Hunt-Wesson)
The Hunt-Wesson plant, a part of ConAgra Foods with more than 100 years of history in tomato products, once employed as many as 700 associates in its tomato processing operation. The once-controversial cannery began operations in 1963. In 1998, it ranked as the fourth-largest food processor in the Sacramento area, processing 300,000 tons of raw tomatoes into 14.5 million cases of finished product. The plant closed its doors in October 1999.
"Uncanny," a student art exhibition designed to encourage interaction with visitors, was held on June 5, 2006, shortly before the buildings were demolished, crushed on-site, and re-utilized off-site as road base material. The event, a first of its kind in Davis, doubled as a celebration for creativity and collaboration among students, drawing more than 1,000 participants.
Lewis Planned Communities will continue to celebrate the cannery's valued heritage through preservation of a tomato paste tank for incorporation into the fabric of the new Cannery Park neighborhood.
The Lewis Group purchased the cannery site in June 2004 and immediately began work on defining a new vision for the old cannery site.