What's going on in the old Citrus Packing House building, across from the Fire Station? Maybe you've heard that there's some big issue about building safety? What are they doing in there? And what is this Secret Underground Laboratory thing?

Under the Citrus Packing House is a large basement, long and narrow, big enough that you can drive trucks down into it. It's nice and cool down here, a stable temperature all year. This building was designed for processing and storing oranges. The basement was once a giant refrigerator, powered by huge swamp coolers. Workers in heavy coats pushed carts of orange crates down the long hall and into the many close chambers. It was modern and high-tech back in the 1930's.

Today, 90 years later, the cool basement of the Packing House has a different use. A group of small craftsman shops have moved in and are quietly working away. They call themselves the Secret Underground Laboratory. These are small, mostly one-man companies that make expensive specialty hand-crafted products. Not to be sold at local markets. All the sales are online through their web sites and social media, mostly custom orders with long waiting lists. Delivery trucks pick up the boxes and take them to customers worldwide. There's no advertising on the building. And they are definitely underground.
Five of the shops down here are Luthiers; that is, they build musical instruments with strings. Guitars, basses, banjos and other odd variants. Expensive hand-made instruments.

Today I'm visiting Bruce Johnson, one of the Luthiers. Bruce's shop is the largest, right inside the doorway at the bottom of the ramp. Bruce builds his own line of electric bass guitars, and he also makes parts for the other Luthiers. He was one of the first shops to move in here, in late 2013, and he helps to maintain the building and manage the other tenants.

Bruce said, "This is a retirement business for me. It's what I want to do for the rest of my life. Building musical instruments is a very tough business. Long hours for very little money; high risk of making mistakes. But it's a fascinating field. It's a mix of Engineering, Craftsmanship, Art, and even a bit of Psychology. For me, as an Engineer and Machinist, this is an endless technical challenge. To keep my old brain going."

Walking into his shop, it's jammed full of machines of all kinds. Woodworking, metalworking, electronics. Many tons of machines, all covered with jobs in progress. It's a complete R & D lab for building musical instruments, all run by one guy. He has no employees or helpers.

Some of the machines are custom built for special jobs. Many of the machines are antiques, some going back to 1900. Bruce jokes that his hobby is collecting and restoring antique machinery.

On the workbenches are parts of his basses, in progress. Unique looking instruments, with scroll-style headstocks and intricate carved bodies.

"I like building electric basses of a particular kind, that have the sound and feel of an old upright bass. I've developed my own special pickups and structural tricks to give them that sound. I've built up a small niche market for these basses, mostly among session bassists. That old-style bass sound in jazz, blues, Nashville. I always have a steady waiting list of customers, but I can only build so many per year."

Bruce's basses sell in the $3000 to $5000 range, and they mostly go around the country. He doesn't sell many here in California. This is a modern day Craftsman business: a very small manufacturing operation, selling nationwide and worldwide through the internet. While secretly located underground in Fillmore.

Bruce's professional life, before becoming a retired Luthier, is also interesting. He's a Mechanical Engineer, specializing in advanced R & D work of machines. A real professional Inventor. He started his career building race cars, then designing heavy gun systems for an Army defense contractor. Then some years in Burbank at the Lockheed Skunk Works, on ground support equipment for black aircraft programs. Through the '90's, he worked at Walt Disney Imagineering, designing advanced robotics and ride systems for the theme parks. "I've had as much fun as you can find in Mechanical Engineering. I've worked in several of the legendary creative engineering groups."

I asked Bruce how he ended up in Fillmore. "I had my shop in Burbank for 21 years. I had built it up as a sideline business, while I was still working full time at Disney. In mid-2013, I was looking for a quiet shop space away from the big crowded city. I met David Storrs, who had just bought the old packing house building on A Street. It's a fascinating old building with a long history and this huge cool basement. It had some mild earthquake damage that needed to be repaired, but otherwise was in great shape. David's overall plan was to clean the building up on the outside, keeping it historic looking, and rent out spaces inside for storage, for small private craftsman shops. Like me. He thought this would be the best use for this interesting old building."

"David convinced me to move in, not just to have my shop here, but to help him build the place up. Bring in other craftsmen, help manage them, and turn the building into a showcase of craftsman shops and history. A centerpiece for the city. Trying to establish a theme for Fillmore. Hopefully encourage more craftsman businesses to move in here, in all these other empty old buildings. Build an identity for the city."

"So, that's what we did. David got the earthquake damage repaired and approved, got the sprinkler system certified, had the Fire Department inspect us. All the basic safety things. I moved in and got my shop operational, and started inviting my craftsman friends to move in here too. By 2016, we had about 10 small shops in and operating. We called the place the Secret Underground Laboratory and started participating in city events with open houses. Private tours of our shops for special groups. We were becoming part of the city. The local folks were surprised to find out that we were here. They thought that the old packing house was abandoned. The City Council seemed to really like us and support what we are doing here. It was fun."

In August, the City of Fillmore red tagged the building, essentially locking everyone out of their businesses for 5 days. The building was changed to yellow tag status with hour and day access restrictions after being asked by the city to install a push-bar on one of the west end exit doors and lighting two exit signs. I asked Bruce how this ongoing situation with the Fillmore Building & Safety Department is affecting him. He shook his head sadly and angrily. "My working schedule is a mess. I normally like to work through the night, doing the most precision work when it's peaceful and quiet. But they won't let us. They are limiting our working hours. I'm scrambling to get work done as I can, between all the interruptions. I'm months behind schedule on instrument deliveries. My customers are pleading for their basses."

“We're hoping that this all gets worked out and we can stay, and continue on with the whole project. But honestly, our spirit is crushed. Some of the Craftsmen have already moved out, and most of the rest are planning it. David Storrs has given up in frustration trying to work with the City of Fillmore, and is selling the building. A real heartbreak for us, because he's been the soul of this project. The sale is in process, and is hopefully going to go through. I'm going to ride it out and stay, and work with the new owners to try and get it all going again. But, I'll tell you, I'm seriously angry and disappointed with Fillmore’s city government, and how they've treated us."