CANOGA PARK : Historic Train Depot Faces Demolition

A historic building that once housed the Canoga Park train station may be torn down soon to make way for an industrial development, city officials and the owners of the property said Wednesday.

The city Cultural Heritage Commission voted Wednesday not to block the city’s issuance of a demolition permit to Southern Pacific Rail Corp., said Nancy Fernandez, executive assistant for the commission.

The company, which has put the land up for sale, is seeking a developer to be a partner in an industrial project on the site, said Michael Conway, project manager for Southern Pacific Real Estate Enterprises. The building was gutted by fire in October, 1993, and can’t be restored, he said.

The station, at Sherman Way and Canoga Avenue, was built in 1912, and is listed in the city’s register of historical landmarks, according to the Canoga Park Historical Society. It was used as a passenger depot until 1920, and until about five years ago it was a hardware store.

The original structure, which has undergone various renovations, is now boarded up. In recent years, neighbors say, it has become a magnet for vagrants and vandals.

Before the fire, a preservationists group expressed an interest in buying the property but never did, Southern Pacific officials said. Tim Sharman, a former real estate manager for Southern Pacific, said in a 1993 interview that the group apparently was unable to afford the $1.5-million asking price.

Southern Pacific has agreed to allow the Chatsworth/Owensmouth Historical Society to salvage whatever they can from the structure, said Conway. The group, he said, has asked for permission to remove various items, including original wooden roof supports.