Santa Fe Depot Park Revamp Set to Begin

Work will begin within weeks on a partial face-lift of Santa Fe Depot Park, one of the oldest public parks in the county.

Hoping to attract businesses to the depot building, the City Council approved a scaled-down version of a rehabilitation plan that it had been considering since last April.

They rejected earlier a more elaborate plan, projected to cost about $160,000, that would have installed a tiled fountain, wooden trellis structure for shade and newly sodded turf.

Instead, contractors will put in landscaping with concrete walkways, seeded lawns, a wooden platform with no shade and a fountain-like planter in the center of the three-quarter-acre park for about $122,000.

Officials drew up the plans to take advantage of traffic from the Metrolink station that opened adjacent to the park’s north side last summer.

They decided to be cautious on the landscaping, however, until they see what businesses they can draw to the 1938 mission-style depot building, which has been empty since 1971.

“We can always add to the plan in the future,” Mayor Joanne Coontz said. “But at this time, it didn’t seem appropriate to put more money into the park until we see what happens with the depot.”

Community groups can offer to donate time and materials to add to the park, Coontz said.

The improvements, which will include lighting, benches and a brick sign with the name of the park, are set to begin by the end of this month and be completed by May, Community Services Manager Gabriel Garcia said.