In 1902, town founder Isaac Trabue persuaded Philadelphia investors to build Punta Gorda’s third ice factory, the Consolidated Ice Manufacturing, Refrigerating and Fish Company, to provide cheaper ice to fishermen and process trash fish into fuel oil and fertilizer. A huge four-story ice factory was built west of town on Berry Street at a cost of $400,000 and was promoted as the largest ice and freezing plant in the country, while a large fertilizer plant was constructed offshore on the bay three blocks away. Extensive dredging created several acres of land and a deep-water channel for the project. The ice factory made test runs of 6,000-pound ice plates in the fall of 1902, and work continued on the yellow-painted fertilizer plant, but the company went bankrupt in 1904 before either facility ever entered production. Known locally as the yellow building, the abandoned fertilizer plant deteriorated and was eventually torn down as a public hazard many years later. Its coquina-covered pilings and foundation blocks remained along the shoreline, where local children used them as a play area, and in 1961 the Punta Gorda Boat Club built its clubhouse on the site and used the large foundation blocks for the seawall, with several blocks still remaining on the property.