(rshsdepot) Lankershim (North Hollywood), CA

["Bernie Wagenblast" <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

From the 8/28 Los Angeles Daily News.

Bernie Wagenblast



Preservationists Aim to Save Train Depot


Aug. 28--NORTH HOLLYWOOD -- The price tag for renovating the historic 
Lankershim train depot has jumped 70 percent to $2 million, MTA officials 
say, stalling the work and upsetting preservationists who worry the 
structure will be lost before it can be restored.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said they're considering 
various options, but residents say the agency is squandering the chance to 
save the 1896 depot.

"It needs to be shored up now," said resident Guy Weddington McCreary, who 
is leading a group trying to save the depot and has the backing of a local 
civic and conservation organizations. "They need to keep working on this 
thing. They need to get on top of this problem real fast."

However, the MTA is reluctant to fully restore the depot now as it tries to 
develop the property in a prime redevelopment area across from the Metro Red 
Line subway and the new Orange Line busway.

Instead, the MTA's focusing on sprucing up the site for the debut this fall 
of the Orange Line.

"We are committed to getting it looking good for today, then making it as 
healthy as possible, and then letting joint development take it from there," 
said Kevin Michel, director of San Fernando Valley area planning for the 
MTA.

"We want to leave some flexibility to the developer as to whether some 
possible movement of the depot is possible, though I think there's a lot of 
sentiment the depot could more than likely stay where it is."

But residents vow to protest any attempts to relocate the depot, arguing a 
move would dilute its authenticity.

Councilman Tom LaBonge wants to get the depot renovated at the intersection.

"That's a very important building that has to be restored and put to a 
positive use," LaBonge said.

The project ran into trouble shortly after the MTA and the Community 
Redevelopment Agency set out to renovate the structure, which served both 
the Pacific Electric Red Cars and Southern Pacific Railroad.

The agencies committed $1.2 million to the project and expected to have work 
completed by 2003. But a series of delays derailed the project.

Now, improvement costs are estimated at $2 million.

Earlier this month, the MTA's Valley governance council stepped into the 
debate by asking what it would take to use the depot as a customer center 
where riders can get bus passes, schedules and information once it reopens.

That move won backing from the Southern California Transit Advocates, which 
has been concerned about the lack of customer centers.

The council's staff will study the issue.

"This is a first step," said Kymberleigh Richards, the Valley council member 
who initiated the study. "What we are hoping to do is to once again provide 
a single location for all of our passengers' needs."

But residents remain worried that the depot will only decay further as time 
goes by.

"It's really a sad state of affairs," Weddington said. "When you think of 
your history like this and it's so close to your modern one. What a great 
contrast it is... between what transportation for rail and Red Car was 110 
years ago, and today with the modern system across the street."

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

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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1195
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org