Del Mar Station - Pasadena, California
N 34° 08.489 W 118° 08.924
11S E 394090 N 3778439
After remaining vacant for many years, the historic Santa Fe Depot in Pasadena, built in 1935 for the Santa Fe Railroad, is back to welcoming visitors. These days, however, the doors of the depot -- reincarnated, thanks to the efforts of LGO Hospitality Group, as La Grande Orange Café – are open to those eager to embark upon a culinary journey offering what LGO Executive Chef Scott Malin describes as "honest food you can eat everyday."
Waymark Code: WM415J
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 06/21/2008
Published By:
PFF
Views: 166
The original Victorian Pasadena Train Station, where trains stopped on their way between Chicago and Los Angeles, was replaced by the current station, in the Southwestern style. Edward C. Webster, a particularly shrewd hotel operator, purchased land on the east side of Raymond Avenue between Green Street and Del Mar Avenue in 1886 and constructed the Santa Fe Train Station at his own expense. The Richardsonian Romanesque train station operated for nearly fifty years, until 1935, when the plans for the new station were announced and the old station was demolished. The 1935 station was completely restored in 2005 and incorporated into a transit-oriented mixed-used development.
The Del Mar Station Transit Village provides a complex civic plaza for those who live and work in this area of Pasadena. It also encourages visitors from the entire region to board the local light rail transit system and visit the historic downtown. A bridge over the light rail right-of-way forms a physical gateway to those arriving by train. The tower at one corner of the project greets those arriving by automobile. The transit village celebrates the region's historic railroad past, incarnated in the restored station.
Guests ´on board´ for the train station restaurant´s inaugural ´journey´ at a recent opening celebration included members and supporters of Pasadena Heritage, which played a leading role in saving the Santa Fe Depot from the wrecking ball. The site remained vacant for years until 2003, when it was painstakingly archived and moved across the street to Central Park while the Del Mar Station for the Gold Line light rail transit system was built. It was returned within feet of its original spot and restored a year later. The Depot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Pasadena Heritage was instrumental in saving it. Historic preservation expert Peyton Hall of Historic Resources Group served as a consultant on the archiving and restoration.
Credits:
Congress for the New Urbanism, (
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Wikipedia, 'Old Town Pasadena', (
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United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service,
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet, (
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'California Chronicle', March 22, 2008, (
visit link)