SIMI VALLEY : ‘Dodger Day’ Tickets to Aid Depot Project

To raise money for restoring the old Santa Susana Railroad Depot in Simi Valley, members of the nonprofit Rancho Simi Foundation will hold the city’s fourth annual “Dodger Day” on July 9. Tickets must be purchased by Thursday.

Tickets to the evening game between the Dodgers and the New York Mets are $8, with all proceeds going directly into a fund to restore the 1903 building, said Bill Funk, organizer of the event.

Funk said members of the foundation recently completed restrooms for the facility and hope to next restore the station’s freight room and community room. He said residents have donated many weekends to the restoration effort.

“It’s a labor of love,” Funk said. “We’re trying to bring the station back as close as we can to its original condition.”

The foundation recently received one prized donation: the original sign from the depot, which had been making the rounds of local swap meets before someone recognized it and turned it over to the foundation, Funk said.

Santa Susana Railroad Depot was sold to the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District in 1974 for $1 and moved to Santa Susana Pass Road from its original location on Los Angeles Avenue and Tapo Canyon Road.

The park district is using a $250,000 grant to restore the station’s exterior.

Funk said the tickets were made available by an anonymous donor within the Dodger organization.

For more information, contact Funk at 527-9339, Walt Griffin at (818) 889-2613 or Supervisor Vicky Howard’s office, 582-8010.