(rshsdepot) Monterey, CA

[Jim Dent <jdent1_@_optonline.net>]

From the Monterey County Herald

Posted on Mon, Mar. 24, 2003

Reuse for rail relic
Possible marine sanctuary visitor center
By DAN LAIDMAN
dlaidman_@_montereyherald.com

For almost 100 years, the Southern Pacific Railroad was Monterey's
connection to the world, the conduit through which tourists and military
personnel came in and farm produce and seafood went out.

Now one of the last relics of the railroad could become a different sort of
hub for the region. Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary officials said
last week that the railroad passenger depot is on a short list of possible
sites for the sanctuary's long-awaited visitor center.

Ever since the sanctuary was established in 1992, there has been talk of
building a center for the public, spokeswoman Rachel Saunders said.

"The idea is to enhance public awareness and lead to a personal connection
to the ocean environment," she said.

The largest marine sanctuary in the country, the Monterey Bay National
Marine Sanctuary encompasses 276 miles of shoreline from Cambria to Marin
County. Its 5,322 square miles of ocean are home to one of the world's most
diverse marine ecosystems, including 345 species of fish, 94 species of
seabirds, 33 species of marine mammals, and many invertebrates and plants.

The sanctuary visitor center would be geared to the general public and
school groups, Saunders said. It would feature interactive multimedia
exhibits, real-time ocean images, and virtual dive experiences. The center
would include a teaching lab and classroom and would integrate bilingual
exhibits and environmentally friendly technology, Saunders said.

The sanctuary first considered 20 sites all over the Central Coast. In at
least one case, a potential site by Seacliff State Park in Aptos, the
sanctuary ran into opposition from angry residents before anything was even
put into writing.

This week the sanctuary plans to announce it has entered the next phase of
the project, with its consultants narrowing the field to four sites. Saunder
s said the short list includes the passenger depot building in Monterey and
several sites in Santa Cruz.

"In an ideal world it would be a waterfront area location within walking
distance of the ocean," Saunders said. "It's a location that has high
visitation and visibility. We're kind of relying on visitors who are already
in the area."

Those criteria would seem to fit with the passenger depot building, on
Monterey's waterfront at the intersection of the tourist and commercial
wharves and Window on the Bay Park.

The passenger depot and its across-the-street cousin, the old freight depot,
are parts of the so-called Catellus property. Monterey purchased the
7.1-acre property in two deals in 2000 and 2002. The city demolished a
building to open up the view of the bay, and it has let other businesses
remain on the condition that they help promote public access to the
waterfront.

The passenger depot building dates from the mid-1940s, said local historian
Kent Seavey. After rail service to Monterey was discontinued in the 1970s,
local fishermen rented the building to store boats and supplies. Today there
are still nets and other fishing equipment piled in back of the depot.

Unsure of the building's future, the city has filled it with public uses so
it would not have to relocate a private tenant, said Bob Humel, Monterey's
housing and property manager. It is currently being used by city parks and
maintenance workers, the police department's waterfront patrol, and state
lifeguards.

City planners are working on a master plan for the Catellus site to chart
its development. So far, the plan calls for any future uses to be
coast-related and dedicated to public access and the public interest.

"Certainly a visitor center for the sanctuary would fit within that general
context for allowable uses," said Rick Marvin, a Monterey city planner.

The sanctuary's consulting firm will now study the short list of sites
in-depth, Saunders said. Last week the Monterey City Council gave the
go-ahead for the passenger depot building to be included. Sanctuary
officials hope to choose a site by late summer, and actual construction
could begin several years in the future.

Whatever becomes of the building, Seavey hopes the architecture will be left
intact and the history respected.

"Obviously they need to tell their story in an interpretive way," he said.
"But it would be incumbent on the city or the sanctuary to dedicate a
portion of it to the railroad history of Monterey."




=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

------------------------------