Long Beach’s historic Southern Pacific Railroad Depot completely burned down during a large blaze in the early-morning hours of Friday, Sept. 16. The structure had been located in Willow Springs Park at California Avenue and 27th Street since late January 2015, pending renovations that would have converted it into a visitors center.” captionposition=”bottom-right” lightbox=”on” floater=”on” floaterposition=”left” floaterdirection=”up”] [aesop_character name=”Cory Bilicko” caption=”Managing Editor ” align=”right” force_circle=”off”] Fire-department officials are still investigating the cause of a Sept. 16 fire that completely destroyed one of Long Beach’s oldest buildings, located at Willow Springs Park, where it was to eventually serve as a visitors center.
The building, the Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, originally constructed in 1907 near Broadway and Pacific Avenue, was the last remaining of three railroad stations that had served downtown Long Beach in the early 1900s.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”250px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Screen-Shot-2016-09-22-at-4.50.17-PM.png” credit=”File photo” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”The Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, originally built in 1907 near Broadway and Pacific Avenue, was the sole survivor of the three railroad stations that once served downtown Long Beach around the turn of the 20th century. ” captionposition=”left”] After having been relocated in 1936 to the public service yard on San Francisco Avenue near West Anaheim Street— where it served for many years as the City’s material and chemical testing laboratory before being used for storage— the depot was then moved to the park, near the corner of California Avenue and 27th Street, in late January 2015.
That location is where it sat for a year and a half, seemingly untouched, just a few yards from Farm Lot 59, a one-acre mini-farm run by Sasha Kanno, who wrote about the fire Monday in her email newsletter, “Farm Happenings.”
“I wanted to thank everyone who called, [texted] or came racing down Friday morning to make sure Farm Lot 59 was still standing,” Kanno wrote. “Shockingly— and because LB Fire is amazing— we are still there. We had some minor irrigation damage and lots and lots of ash covering our field. But mostly unharmed.”
Kanno expressed sadness that her “neighbor” was gone and that the work that had been invested in the structure was lost.
“The depot was pretty thrashed after the move, but I saw the vision and potential it held. It was going to be the anchor for Willow Spring Gulch,” she wrote. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen now to the parcel or the restoration of that area. For now, we mourn the loss and continue to be thankful that we still have our small community farm.”
[aesop_image imgwidth=”300px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Screen-Shot-2016-09-22-at-4.49.54-PM.png” credit=”Photo by Robert Anderson” align=”right” lightbox=”on” caption=”A photo submitted by a Signal Tribune reader shows the historic Long Beach Southern Pacific Railroad Depot on fire around 3am on Friday, Sept. 16.” captionposition=”right”] Jacob Heflin, public information officer with the Long Beach Police Department, called the fire “a tragic loss for our city.”
He said the 66-foot-long and 30-foot-wide Mission Revival-style depot was undergoing a multi-year restoration process prior to being re-opened to the public as an interpretive center for Willow Springs Park.
Those plans have now been dashed, as the depot has been reduced to ash and a few pieces of charred wood.
Heflin indicated that, initially, there had been some confusion as to the exact location of the blaze that morning.
“At 2:37am, the Long Beach Fire Department responded to reports of an unknown fire in the area of 27th Street and Atlantic Avenue,” he wrote in a press release on the afternoon of the fire. “Based on numerous reports received with differing locations, the Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatched Engine 60, which is assigned to the fire station in Signal Hill. As Engine 7 investigated, it was determined that the fire was located at California Avenue and 27th Street in Willow Springs Park. Engine 7 arrived at 2:44am, and their initial report on conditions indicated a single, stand-alone structure fully involved with fire. Based on the size of the fire, additional fire department resources were requested. Los Angeles County Engine 60 arrived shortly thereafter and provided additional support.”
[aesop_image imgwidth=”300px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Screen-Shot-2016-09-22-at-4.50.00-PM.png” credit=”File photo” align=”right” lightbox=”on” caption=”The Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, circa 1910, shown at 225 W. Broadway, just west of Pacific Avenue, in downtown Long Beach” captionposition=”right”] Heflin said firefighters initiated “defensive operations” and extinguished the fire at 3:24am.
“As additional details about the fire became available, it was determined that the building destroyed by the blaze was the historic Southern Pacific Railroad Depot,” Heflin wrote. “There were no injuries associated with the fire, [and] the cause of the fire remains under investigation.”
The Signal Tribune reached out to Heflin Wednesday to find out if the fire department had any suspects or updates on the incident. Heflin responded by email late Wednesday night.
“I talked with the captain that oversees the fire investigators last night and was told that the fire remains under investigation,” Heflin wrote. “Nothing further to report. Sorry we don’t have any additional information to share at this point.”
By Thursday afternoon, another fence had been set up, but this one surrounded the now charred spot that once held the treasured piece of Long Beach history.
