The Tehachapi City Council approved awarding the contract for rebuilding the depot to Aspen Builders, Inc.

There were six bids submitted. Aspen was the lowest bidder with a bid of $834,494.79.

The sealed bids were opened publicly on May 13, 2009. City staff has been working with the insurance company to ensure that the replacement costs will be covered.

TEHACHAPI, CA - One year and twelve hours after the beloved Historic Tehachapi Train Depot was burned to the ground, the re-building process will begin again.

At 3:10 p.m. on Saturday, June 13, 2009, the City of Tehachapi held a groundbreaking ceremony for the reconstruction of the Tehachapi Train Depot and Museum.

This project represents a significant amount of work by the Friends of the Tehachapi Depot, the Tehachapi Heritage League, AECOM, Main Street Tehachapi, City Staff members and numerous volunteers to create a useable set of plans that will provide a functional new building while still retaining the look and feel of the old structure.

As the City of Tehachapi construction crews excavated the burned out shell of the Depot, they came across a layer of red bricks. Workers were instructed to stop excavating until FOTD volunteers could retrieve the bricks. The consensus of opinion is that these bricks were part of the original depot building, erected in the 1800’s, and which burned in 1904.

Over a period of several weeks, FOTD volunteers, including Robert Butler, John Greenelsh, Nick Smirnoff and Bob Westover, led by Volunteer Coordinator, Dennis Storms, slowly and methodically removed mortar, dirt and debris. Volunteers met at the site every Monday morning. Over 900 bricks have been salvaged. The bricks are being stored by the City, awaiting a decision on how best to utilize them in the landscaping of the Depot. The bricks will not be used in walkways, due to their fragile state, but will be used in some part of the Depot landscaping or structure.

Only minor modifications were found to be needed during the Depot Plans Check, held at Tehachapi City Hall on January 23, 2009. Those present: City Manager-Greg Garrett, Assistant to the City Manager-Chris Kirk, City’s Construction Crew-Mike Pera; Friends of the Tehachapi Depot (FOTD) President-Fred Motter, Vice-President-Nick Smirnoff, Heritage League President-Charles White.

Once the modifications are completed by the architect, the Tehachapi City Council will approve a request to send the plans out for bid. Four to six weeks later, the Council should be able to approve a bid. Construction would start shortly thereafter.

Click an image to view larger photos

Photos by Nick Smirnoff

Officials hope construction can begin in late April

The architectural and engineering plans for rebuilding the historic 1904 Tehachapi Depot that burned to the ground June 13 are almost complete.

Based on the original floor plan from the archives at the Railroad Museum in Sacramento, the recreated building will occupy the exact same footprint on the Tehachapi Boulevard site, and to all but the most observant eye will be identical to the original structure.

A committee has been formed to plan for the fundraising necessary to complete the Tehachapi Depot that was destroyed in the June 13th fire. The committee is made up of volunteers from several nonprofit groups such as the Friends of the Tehachapi Depot (FOTD), the Tehachapi Heritage League, Main Street Tehachapi, the City of Tehachapi and other interested individuals.

On Friday morning of the Depot fire, Del Troy who has been involved for 35 years in the effort to acquire and restore the Tehachapi Depot said, "You have to believe that something good will come out of this." All of Tehachapi seems to agree. The City of Tehachapi has made the commitment to rebuild the Depot and our citizens have stepped forward to fully support that decision.

As heartbreaking as the fire’s destruction has been to those dedicated citizens working on its restoration, an unexpected outpouring of community spirit has been heard all over town about the tragedy. I don't think those involved in the project realized the depth of feelings from so many people in the community and their anticipation of seeing the restored Depot as the focal point of a vital Downtown Tehachapi. Cash donations are already coming in.

A team of volunteers from the Tehachapi Heritage League and Friends of the Tehachapi Depot (FOTD) has been cataloging the Stokoe Collection for the City and has begun cataloging items given to FOTD for display in the Depot. There are over 300 items in the Stokoe Collection alone. Exhibit planning, graphics, photo reproduction and research has been ongoing so that once the Depot was completed, exhibits could be installed. Fortunately, none of these items had been moved into the Depot and are all in a safe place.