Live Oak chugs forward with depot plans

Live Oak city officials are continuing their quest to determine the potential under a former train depot's dilapidated exterior.

Council members unanimously approved a historical evaluation contract with MPM Engineering of Chico on Wednesday, which is another step in the process of restoring the depot at Elm Street and Broadway.

The City Council has been working with the North Central Counties Consortium to restore the depot and turn it into a restaurant job training site. The job program, similar to Checkers restaurant in Oroville, would train at-risk youth ages 17-22 in food service.

The analysis, which will determine the building's structural integrity and amount of restoration required to meet historic standards, will cost no more than $10,000 and take about six weeks. Council members had already approved general fund expenditures up to $50,000 for the renovation and are continuing to seek grant funding for the project.

"This looks like it is going to answer a lot of questions that continually crop up," said Councilman Gary Baland. "What can we do with the depot and what are the restrictions?"

Mayor Diane Hodges has said a restaurant training program may be the perfect fit for the blighted building. Old-timers would like to keep it the way it is, new residents want it torn down and others want to turn it into something functional, she said.

The depot closed more than a decade ago from its most recent use as a restaurant, but it is at least 130 years old. The site has been considered for a rest area, museum and information center.

Developers also discussed moving the depot and filling its space with a strip mall.

But the high price tag of restoration and development meant none of those improvements came to fruition.

MPM's analysis should indicate if a job-training center is feasible.

The 1,256-square-foot structure is the only known surviving depot from the defunct California & Oregon Railroad and helped open the upper Sacramento Valley to agriculture and settlement.

The city owns the former railroad depot, as well as 10,000 square feet of property where the depot sits. A portion of the building is on railroad property leased to the city.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ashley Gebb at 749-4724 or agebb@appealdemocrat.com.