by Matt Bramlett

news@claremont-courier.com

The historic Claremont Depot is getting a bit of a facelift to kick off the New Year.

The depot, which is currently the home of the Claremont Museum of Art (CMA), will be undergoing seismic and accessibility retrofitting beginning on January 13, the city said.

The construction will focus on two of the easternmost rooms of the Depot—the former “bike room” and the “luggage room.” The Depot will be fenced off throughout the construction process.

The construction will be paid for by funds from Proposition C, which allocates funding for transportation projects. The Claremont Depot has historically been linked to transit throughout its life, and it used to be a Foothill Transit location before it was transferred to CMA in 2015.

The use of Proposition C funds for the Depot was initially approved by Metro in 2015-2016, Claremont city spokesperson Bevin Handel said, and re-affirmed by Metro with the museum identified as the current tenant.

“The seismic and ADA improvements are necessary to make the facility safe and habitable for the current and future tenants, which could include transit-oriented uses in the future,” Ms. Handel said. “The historic nature of the building and its connection to transit in Claremont is also very important, and the proposed improvements will serve to preserve this history.”

The cost of the current construction work will be $295,000 of Prop C funds. Since 2015, around $86,000 of Prop C funds have been spent to make the Depot safe for CMA’s fine arts collection, the city related in its December 10, 2019 agenda report.

The project is expected to be completed April 1.