Before rehabilitation, 2005 photo. The Kingsburg Depot had had no maintenance of any kind for more than 28 years. The second-story of the building was leaning west several inches, portions of the roof structure had fallen completely away, blue sky was visible through ceilings in several rooms, water had entered the building in many places doing significant damage, nearly all window panes were broken, and all major systems including electrical, plumbing, and heating were non-functional. The only things that made rehabilitation of the site desirable were the historic rarity of this SP Common Standard Number 18 Depot, its original context next to an active rail line, the importance of the building to the city's history, and the emotional attachment a few residents still held for the place.
After rehabilitation, 2015 photo. This is the site after 10 years of historic rehabilitation, 16,000 hours of volunteer labor, a private fundraising campaign, a federal grant, and the efforts of an architect, an engineer, two general contractors, and dozens of subcontractors. Many hours were required to remove mountains of trash and hazardous materials before General Contractor Jon Casey was hired in 2007 to accomplish repairs to the roof structure, second-story structure, and extensive modifications to the foundation and walls for earthquake safety and ADA handicap access. This work absorbed nearly all of the money and materials donated by private parties. Then in 2012 a federal grant was assigned to the project, and General Contractor C.J. Brock was awarded the remainder of the work in 2014. Grant-funded work was completed in October 2015.
Waiting Rooms now
Waiting Rooms before
Office now
Office before
Restrooms now
Restrooms before
Freight House now
Freight House before
Freight Dock now
Freight Dock before
Spur track train display area now
Spur track train display area before