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Re: (rshsdepot) Bellflower, CA
I don't like the destruction of the PE station
- -----Original Message-----
>From: I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com
>Sent: Feb 17, 2006 12:53 PM
>To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net
>Subject: (rshsdepot) Bellflower, CA
>
>From the Los Angeles Wave.
>
>Bernie Wagenblast
>
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>Bellflower OKs restoration of depot, lease to restaurant
>
>By ARNOLD ADLER, Staff Writer
>15.FEB.06
>
>BELLFLOWER — The City Council Monday night approved plans to partially
>demolish the old Pacific Electric Train Depot at 16336 Bellflower Blvd., the first
>step in building the Transit Plaza, which will offer landscaping and benches
>around the structure.
>
>In a separate item Monday, the council contracted with Subway sandwich shops
>to lease space at a new building planned south of the depot at Friendship
>Park, at Bellflower Boulevard and Belmont Street. A Starbucks coffee shop also
>will occupy the building.
>
>Community Development Director Brian Lee said the transit depot will be
>restored to its original 1918 size and form, which was generally columns
>supporting a roof and a small ticket booth.
>
>The structure was enclosed in later years and has been boarded up and unused
>the past 20, Lee said.
>
>It is next to a cement passenger platform adjoining the abandoned Union
>Pacific Railroad right-of-way.
>
>Bids will be sought in the near future for Phase I, the opening of the
>building by removing the side walls. A decorative safety fence and temporary
>lighting will be erected around the structure.
>
>Cost of Phase I is estimated at $96,000. Total cost is estimated at
>$614,000, which includes $360,000 from the city and a $250,000 grant from the San
>Gabriel Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, a regional, state-appointed group
>which distributes funds for park and open space projects.
>
>Phase II calls for restoring the structure to its original form as much as
>possible, even to the extent of using the same building materials, Lee said.
>Completion is expected by fall.
>
>In a related item Monday night, the City Council contracted with the
>Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to lease the 8,800 square foot depot
>area and adjoining railroad right-of-way for three years for free, beginning
>March 1.
>
>Lee said the MTA limited the contract to three years because it is being
>leased for free. The contract will be renewable, possibly with a fee.
>
>Besides the depot, restrooms and benches are planned for public use as a
>rest stop. It is uncertain if the restored structure will contain any commercial
>or service operation, Lee said.
>
>He noted that the rest stop would be convenient for shoppers visiting
>downtown Bellflower as well as for hikers and bicyclists using the planned
>Bellflower Greenway, a proposed bike and pedestrian path along the abandoned tracks
>through the city.
>
>The greenway would not conflict with a possible elevated high-speed commuter
>train riding a rail some 20 feet over the path, city officials have said.
>
>Subway Real Estate Corporation has agreed to lease a 1,082-square-foot
>section of a 4,500-square-foot building planned at 16607 Bellflower Blvd. for
>$1,623 a month.
>
>The planned one-story building, shared with Starbucks, will replace the
>three-story Belmont Building deemed too deteriorated to upgrade.
>
>Completion of the new Belmont Building is expected by December. It will abut
>Friendship Square, which will be expanded westward on Belmont Street and
>turned into a park, Lee said.
>
>=================================
>The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
>railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
>
=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
------------------------------
End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1303
********************************
=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org