New Use Brewing for ‘30s-Era Train Depot

The Santa Fe Depot building, boarded up since the early 1970s, is slated for a revival that officials hope will bring some night life to Old Towne.

The City Council voted this week to spend $300,000 to rehabilitate the building in anticipation of leasing it to proprietors of a combined restaurant and microbrewery.

“We believe this company will revitalize the area,” said Linda Boone, the city’s interim redevelopment director.

Investors have formed J.R. Guerin Group to lease the building from the city and establish Old Towne Brewing Co. on the premises. The plan is to serve food and home-brewed beer, as well as coffee and juice to morning commuters waiting for Metrolink trains at the station.

J.R. Guerin, formerly chief financial officer at Long Beach Mortgage Co. in Orange, is heading the investor group. Dean Daniels, manager of a San Francisco yacht service, will manage the restaurant, and Tucker Fleming of Orange will oversee the brewing facility.

City employees have been restoring the area around the 1930s-era depot since Metrolink began stopping there last summer. Santa Fe Depot Park, one of the oldest in the county, has been spruced up with lighting and benches, and the parking lot has been upgraded.

“It’s a neat old building, and we’re really proud to get it,” said Fleming, a professional brewer.