Davis OKs Fund for Freeway Corridor Homes
Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill into law Friday creating a special fund to pay for the upkeep of state-owned historic homes along the Long Beach Freeway extension corridor.
Half the rent collected from tenants of the historic homes in Pasadena, South Pasadena and El Sereno will be put into a fund to maintain the houses.
Since the 1950s, Caltrans has acquired more than 500 homes along the corridor, which would connect the San Bernardino and Foothill freeways. Protracted political and legal battles have stalled construction of the extension.
By 1995, a quarter of all the homes were unrentable or empty. Dozens of the historic homes were rotting, despite promises that they would be spared through relocation or other means.
Then Caltrans last year began a $20-million project to restore the 81 historic structures.
State Sen. Adam Schiff said he wrote the bill because the $2.5 million in Caltrans budgets each year to maintain its houses on the route is not enough. The new law is expected to generate $250,000 more, he said.
“Structures eligible for state and national recognition as historically significant should never again be allowed to fall into disrepair,” he said.
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