Work has finally finished on Metro's $3.6 million renovation of the 118-year-old Lankershim train depot in North Hollywood, with the hope a restaurant, museum, coffee shop, or bike hub moves in there. Workers built a new foundation, roof, plumbing system, platforms, added new sidings, eaves, windows, and doors, and performed seismic upgrades. The original mustard-and-brown colors were also painted on the exterior and a sign placed on the roof that reads "Southern Pacific-Pacific Electric Station," a nod to the depot's past function. Whoever moves into the Metro-owned property is expected to renovate the three-room interior, plant landscaping, and restore an adjacent park and railroad tracks.
Finding a tenant for the depot is complicated by work on an underground tunnel that will connect the Red Line subway and Orange Line busway, allowing people to transfer between the lines without crossing Lankershim Boulevard. Construction staging for the tunnel—which opens in 2016—occupies part of the depot property and is needed so that people can walk between the subway and busway.
"Metro may be able to get a tenant to occupy the depot earlier than 2016 by either clearing construction staging areas as soon as they are no longer needed, or by re-sequencing the planned restoration of a public park on the corner of the property," reads a statement from Metro.
The Lankershim depot is part of a nearly 16-acre site that Metro hopes to develop with new mixed-users. They also are building a controversial pedestrian bridge at the nearby Universal City subway stop that will be done in 2016. —Neal Broverman
· Restoration Full Steam Ahead at NoHo's 1890s Train Depot [Curbed LA]
· North Hollywood Train Depot Archives [Curbed LA]
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