FULLERTON : When Is a Depot Sufficiently Plastered?

The company restoring the historic downtown train depot has begun replastering part of the building’s stucco exterior.

Bushala Bros. Inc., a local building contractor and construction management company, leases the depot from the city and rents out the space to several businesses, including a cafe.

As part of the 55-year lease agreement, the company agreed to do the work necessary to bring the depot up to state standards for historic buildings.

The city and Bushala Bros. have been arguing since last year, however, over whether the building has been satisfactorily restored.

City Council members served the contractor with a notice last month saying that, unless the company did the work within 30 days, the city would send crews to replaster and repaint, upgrade the roof--and send Bushala Bros. a bill for the work, estimated at as much as $100,000.

City officials gave Bushala Bros. until Thursday to do the work.

The contractor maintains that replastering the entire exterior would compromise the authenticity of the building.

“You have to respect things as they age,” company partner Tony Bushala said Monday as he and his crew placed patches on the south side of the Fullerton depot, which is listed on the National Registry of Historic Buildings.

“This is kind of like a Picasso,” Bushala said of the light blue, peach and yellow structure. “The colors are what make this place unique.”

“We’re not complying with the city’s request to replaster the whole building,” he said. “When we finish, we hope the city will realize that they were wrong in concluding that the building should be redone altogether.”

Gary A. Chalupsky, executive director of the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency, said the city will send someone to inspect the building later this week.

“All we want is for the building to look good,” Chalupsky said. “I hope we don’t have to get all the lawyers involved.

“If we go out there and it looks good, we won’t have any problems,” he said. But if the work does not meet state standards, he said, the city will take over the restoration.

If that happens, Bushala said, the company will file for a restraining order against the city.

His brother, George Bushala, also a partner, said, “To cover up this building would be to deny its heritage.”