Chatsworth : Chatsworth Station’s Grand Opening Set

When construction is finished at the new Chatsworth train station, the spacious facility will house a museum devoted to all facets of the community’s history, from the Chumash to the early days of movie-making.

When the partly completed station opens to the public Saturday, however, visitors will see a new kind of history at the site. Outside the entrance, engraved bricks bear the names of dozens of residents and businesses who have contributed to the project.

“This was an effort to tie the people of the community to the station,” said Dick Pearson, president of the Chatsworth Chamber of Commerce.

Available to the public for $100 apiece, the bricks are part of an effort to raise money for the chamber and build a planned community meeting center at the station. Alison Bailey Hakeem, the chamber’s executive director, said about 300 “pavers” have been sold to date with thousands more remaining.

And while much of the station remains under construction, chamber members will join the Metropolitan Transportation Agency and city officials in a gala grand opening Saturday featuring live entertainment, displays of antique and futuristic vehicles and pony rides for children.

“We’re excited about it,” Pearson said. “It’s going to be great.” The festivities will begin at 11 a.m. with the arrival of two antique train cars bearing screen legends Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson.

Built on the site of an old Southern Pacific freight station, the new facility is a replica of the original Chatsworth train station demolished in the 1960s and features a large, privately owned child-care center aimed at Metrolink commuters.

“We hope to open within the next two weeks,” said Kathleen Keller-Olsen, regional director for Children’s Discovery Centers, which will accept 90 children ages 6 weeks to 5 years at the site, dubbed the Transit Tots Child Care Center.

For more information about Saturday’s grand opening, call (818) 341-2428.