NOOOO – The building that housed the world’s first Taco Bell is under “imminent threat of demolition,” according to the Downey Conservancy, a Downey-based preservation group.

Although Downey is more famously recognized as the site of the oldest operating location for the world’s largest hamburger chain, it is Taco Bell that built its very first location within the city.  The building, located at 7112 Firestone Blvd, was opened by founder Glen Bell in March 1962.

Why did Taco Bell’s founder, and one of the most famous names in fast food, choose Downey?  According to the book, Taco Titan: The Glen Bell Story, “The location was in a growth area near a middle-class neighborhood, on a street with good traffic and numerous small businesses.”

For a number of years, the former Taco Bell building was the location of an independent fast food restaurant, Seafood and Tacos Raul.  This latter restaurant closed at the end of December, and the now-vacant building was subsequently fenced off.

“As there is no current plan for the building’s continued use, its status is considered to be endangered,” the Conservancy said.

You know what I did last night? I went to Taco Bell and got four soft shelled tacos and two chicken quesadillas and it was the happiest 11 minutes of my life. And now this, which is possibly the saddest moment of my life. I expected more from Downey, California. I really did. You can’t just let a national landmark go quietly into the night. You must rage, rage against the dying of the light. Did I just use a Dylan Thomas poem in a Taco Bell post? Yes I did, because desperate times call for desperate measures. And nothing is more desperate than the original Taco Bell building getting destroyed. Taco Bell 4 Life.

– Ryan