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Podcasts Take Two
The original Taco Bell makes a run for the Irvine border
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Nov 19, 2015
Listen • 6:19
The original Taco Bell makes a run for the Irvine border
The building was last a Taco Bell in 1986, and it was set to be demolished. That's when Taco Bell stepped in to move it from Downey to Irvine 45 miles away.
The original Taco Bell building in Downey will be moving to the company's headquarters in Irvine.
The original Taco Bell building in Downey will be moving to the company's headquarters in Irvine.
(
Taco Bell
)

The building was last a Taco Bell in 1986, and it was set to be demolished. That's when Taco Bell stepped in to move it from Downey to Irvine 45 miles away.

Taco Bell is now doing delivery!

Well actually, Taco Bell is moving its very first building, "Numero Uno," from Downey to the company's headquarters in Irvine 45 miles away.

The building was last a Taco Bell in 1986, and it has housed a number of different restaurants since that time. But in 2014, the building closed its doors for good.

It was set to be razed, and that's when the Downey Conservancy stepped in to alert Taco Bell. 

"They reached out to us and from day one, as soon as we found out, it was one of those things where we could not let it get demolished," says Taco Bell's Matthew Prince.

Starting Thursday at 10:30 p.m., the 20-by-20 building will be lifted off of its concrete foundation and hoisted onto a flatbed truck.

Reaching top speeds of only 20 mph, the building will weave its way through Cerritos, La Palma, past Knott's Berry Farm, continue through Anaheim before curving south to Orange and Santa Ana.

It's scheduled to arrive at Taco Bell HQ around 3 a.m. Friday, where it will hang out in the parking lot until the company decides its future. The company plans to ask fans and the community how they would like to see the building transform.

If you wanted to check out its move in progress, and perhaps get a few Doritos Locos Tacos while you're at it, the company has four Taco Bell locations along the route in addition to its final stop:

  • 7127 Firestone Blvd., Downey
  • 1075 N. Tustin Ave,, Anaheim
  • 2233 N. Tustin St., Orange
  • 490 N. Tustin St., Orange
  • 1 Glen Bell Way, Irvine (Taco Bell Headquarters)