Come out on Friday Jan 14th, at 6pm, to the San Bernardino History & RR Museum, contained in the historic Santa Fe San Bernardino Depot, and get your questions answered.

The Santa Fe's Architect, Mr. W.H. Mohr, designed the San Bernardino Depot to have unpainted concrete exterior walls. Only the wood and metal work, trim and a few decorative portions of the depot's exterior were intended to be painted. The Depot was completed in 1918, and the exterior walls have never been painted, in keeping with the Moorish Revival Style intended by Mr. Mohr and the Santa Fe Railway. Currently the Depot is jointly owned by the City of San Bernardino and the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG). SANBAG represents all cities in San Bernardino County, and is the old county transportation commission, currently occupying the second floor office space of the Depot. SANBAG is responsible for the maintenance of the building.

SANBAG and the City of San Bernardino were specifically informed that the concrete exterior walls of the Depot were not intended to be painted, by Mr. Milford W. Donaldson of the California State Office of Historical Preservation. It is not clear if SANBAG has complied with the provisions of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, in that public funds are being utilized for this renovation work. Section 106 requires such public funds be spent on work consistent with retaining the historic integrity of a historic landmark. [www.achp.gov] The Santa Fe San Bernardino Depot was added in 2001 to the National Register of Historic Places as Building No. 1000025.

San Bernardino City Councilwoman Virginia Marquez has been working on getting Mr. Duane Baker SANBAG's Director of Management Services to talk to the Allesandro Neighborhood Assn, and interested parties, about the work currently being done on the Santa Fe San Bernardino Depot. Turns out the San Bernardino History & RR Museum is not the only party concerned about the possible painting the San Bernardino Depot. Councilwoman Virginia Marquez stated that she has been getting a lot of phone calls from concerned citizens regarding the preparatory work and scaffolding currently on the Depot.

What the San Bernardino Depot needs is for the roof to be properly repaired, as it currently leaks into second floor office space. The rain gutters and downspouts need to be properly cleaned out, repaired, and re-directed, particularly over the main entrance. The water stained evidence can be plainly seen at the seams in downspouts, and at the main entrance. This was neglected since the 2004 restoration. Any paint on the concrete exterior walls will only become streaked and weathered by not making these repairs. In addition, the concrete exterior walls need to be repaired of all cracks and water damage, otherwise water will only get in behind the paint and cause it to bubble off, streak and stain as water and dirt percolate from behind.

So if you are interested, come out Friday night, at 6pm, to the meeting.

www.sbdepotmuseum.com