Updates as of September 30, 2007:

RHA Landscape Architects, Inc has been hired by the City to work on the final designs for Electric Avenue Heritage Park.   We will meet with RHA later this week.   We also hope to have RHA at a meeting with the Wildwood Park Neighborhood Association to give residents a chance to give their input for what they would like to see in the park.   The park will greatly improve the entire area and be a benefit for the whole community, but the people in our neighborhood have supported the project from the very beginning and we want to be sure they are included in the process.

Updates as of September 21, 2006:

We have learned at recent meetings with Assistant City Manager, Lorri Sassoon, that the city will hire a consultant to do final designs and engineering for Electric Avenue Heritage Park.   Funds have already been set aside for this.   Bids should open by the middle or end of October, and a contract may be awarded by December. However, we do not know how long it would take to finish the designs.   The designs will be based on our original plans and suggestions.   We have asked the city to keep us updated on any progress.

On September 28, we will have a meeting with residents and ask each family to buy a tree (a "family tree") as a donation toward the project.   Based on the advice of an arborist, we've decided on planting Camphor trees.   There is no timeline for when the trees could be planted though, since the designs for the park and irrigation system have to be finished first.

Updates as of May, 2006:

On May 1, 2006, the San Bernardino City Council officially named Electric Avenue Heritage Park!   This was the name suggested by the CRA.   From this moment on, the future park finally has a name!

Updates as of March 24, 2006:

After a very long delay, there is finally an update! The Community Redevelopment Alliance of San Bernardino has finally completed its first project! Last month, on February 18, the Jerry Develin Memorial Rose Garden was planted and dedicated at the Shultes-Littlefield Park. Despite a very cold, overcast morning, the turnout at the dedication ceremony was very good. The Rose Garden turned out to be a very nice tribute to Jerry Develin and to others in the community who are remembered and honored. Amazingly, as soon as the ceremony started and the park was formally accepted by the city, there was a sudden clearing in the clouds and the sun started to shine! Overall, everything went very well.

After the dedication ceremony, Mayor Pat Morris talked with members of the CRA and was very interested in the Electric Avenue park project. He wanted to meet with us to discuss the project. At this time, we have not yet been able to set up a meeting with the Mayor, but we will be meeting with Councilman Neil Derry and the City Manager on April 17. There are several questions we hope to have answered that will help us to move forward.

Updates as of October 11, 2005:

Unfortunately, and very sadly at the last moment, there were serious disagreements with the owner of the streetcar about demolition and transportation which couldn't be resolved. I feel it is best to not discuss the details of that here, but I think I have personally learned some difficult lessons. It's enough to say that we will not be able to use the car. To say this is a terrible disappointment is putting it mildly. After all this work, and trying to arrange a temporary site and finding someone to move the car, it is a shame that we came so close but couldn't see things through. We will have to put our focus back on the park itself now. We may still be able to use some of the small funds we were able to raise toward the park.

Updates as of October 7, 2005:

Finally, some progress to report! In fact, some major progress! We finally have a temporary storage site for the streetcar and a mover ready to haul it down to San Bernardino. The only issue left now is money. The cost to transport the car is $1,500. We have managed to raise just over $1000, mostly from donations from local businesses. The owner of the streetcar is also making a generous donation. We are working on raising the rest right now. But the timing is critical. We are working under a deadline now, and have to move the car as soon as possible, preferably by October 16. As it stands today, we are about $460 short.

The car will need a lot of work, but I am confident that we will be able to restore it. Also, I think that once we have the car here, and people can see that we have progressed beyond just talking and have made tangible progress, we will have more support. When there is a real 43 foot Huntington standard trolley car here for people to see, there will be a lot more interest, especially from railfans. Right now, the most critical problem is just getting the car here.

Updates as of May 18, 2005:

Support continues to grow for Electric Avenue Heritage Park. Landscape architect Richard Pope (Richard Pope and Associates) and his staff very generously prepared a nice set of plans for us earlier. I have shown these to many people lately, with very positive feedback. We will be meeting with a civil engineer soon to look at some of the drainage and grading problems on Electric Avenue. We should also get cost estimates soon, using some of the information Richard Pope provided for us in his plans. Once this is done, we should be ready to start applying for grants, corporate donations, etc.

We are also looking at some ways to raise operating funds for the CRA. I am currently working on a book, titled Backtracks, which recounts the history of the Arrowhead Hot Springs Line and the settlement of the north San Bernardino area. Nick Cataldo of the San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society will also contribute work and share some of his research and knowledge of local history. The book will have a lot of pictures, especially taken along the Arrohwead Hot Springs line itself. Most are very rare, and have probably never been seen before. There will also be a fairly large collection of other pictures and artwork, such as Pacific Electric brochures and timetables, and even scans of original 1905 and 1906 San Bernardino Valley Traction Company trolley tickets which were given to me recently. (I had never seen SBVT tickets before!) We will also have early photographs of San Bernardino, revealing a city that was much different than the one we know today. I think when it's finished the book will turn out very nice and it will be something people will enjoy seeing and reading. It will help to generate a small amount of money for the CRA, but it will also help to tell an interesting story about local history, and that has been my goal from the beginning.

Unfortunately, I have no news to report on the Los Angeles Railway streetcar in Palmdale. We have not been able to make any progress in finding temporary storage for it, or anyone who could help to transport it here. We are still in contact with the city about this, but we are looking at all possible alternatives. I hope to have updates on this soon.

Updates as of January 24, 2005:

I have kept this a bit of a secret and I didn't want to say much about it too soon, but I felt it was time to post an update. We might have found a streetcar to use for the static display and historic site we want on Electric Avenue. I read in an online message board that Los Angeles Railway car 749 was found in Palmdale. The owner needs to clear the property and he would like to donate the car to anyone who can find a good use for it. I met with the owner and talked with him about our project, and he would like to donate the car to the CRA and/or City of San Bernardino. The car is the body only - the trucks, seats, trolley pole, etc. are long gone. The Los Angeles Railway never came to San Bernardino, of course, but this car is nearly identical to a type that Pacific Electric did use in San Bernardino (PE 200 class, and PE cars 145 and 146). These were known as "Huntington Standards" or "California cars" and were very common on both the Los Angeles Railway and the Pacific Electric in early years. In fact, there were instances where cars were apparently traded between the two railways, and then repainted, with only the trucks needing replacement. These type of cars normally had both open and closed sections, but cars 145 and 146 used in San Bernardino for a time had the open sections enclosed. Since the open sections of this car would have to be enclosed to make it more suitable as a park display, I feel we could model it after PE 145 or 146 and make it reasonably authentic. The car would need a lot of restoration work, not the least of which being to find trucks for it. But this might be our best opportunity and I felt it was a chance we could not let pass - because having a replica built from scratch would be a huge undertaking, and most likely prohibitively expensive. Fortunately, the car will not be restored to operating condition, only restored to a condition to make it suitable as a static display. The car would not necessarily need to have authentic streetcar trucks. We may even be able to use standard gauge boxcar trucks to get the right visual effect. I think the only authentic streetcar items we might need is a trolley pole, controllers, headlamps, and some smaller details. In fact, a lot of smaller parts could be replicated fairly easily, such as having dummy controllers.

We met with City Councilman Neil Derry, City Administrator Fred Wilson, and Interim Director of Public Services, Kerry Morford this morning to ask for the city's help in finding temporary storage for the car and possibly help with transporting it here. We are also looking at possible sites on Electric Avenue where the car could be displayed permanently after it is restored. Everything seemed to go well at the meeting, and we are cautiously optimistic.

Updates as of October 4, 2004:

Congratulations to Guy Zebbs! The San Bernardino County Sun featured a very well-written article by Teresa Rochester about Guy Zebbs and his struggle to restore the Arrowhead Valley Muncipal Water Company and water rights to the Arrowhead Suburban Farms community. Guy is a board member of the CRA, and a friend. We knew about his work with the water issues, and that it was something he felt very strongly about. He has worked on this for several years. But I think the article (on Saturday, October 2, 2004) really helped to show the whole story, and why this was so important. His project was not connected with the CRA, but we are happy his efforts are getting the attention and support it deserves.

We have been taking some small steps with our project, but in general, there is still a frustrating lack of progress. I think at this point we are going to have to get some actual cost estimates and then try to look for ways of raising money and asking for contributions. The reality is that the CRA cannot continue to run without money, and we have none. If we're going to get cost estimates, then we need to make a decision about what we want to ask for. Earlier, we were considering a simpler and more immediate solution of tilling the ground and planting trees, and then planting the grass parkway later. But if we're going to eventually build the full-blown park, then it seems we should present our intentions as such. And then we will have the problem of trying to get Parks and Recreation to accept a more expensive plan, when they are already very limited in money and manpower. The entire city is. Actually, all of California is in hard times right now, for that matter. I was really hoping for something more immediate. Ultimately, we want the grass parkway and landscaping as we proposed, but that will take a lot longer than I thought. If we ask for the grass to be planted now, that means mowing, a bigger irrigation system, more watering, etc. This may seem like a small issue - whether or not to ask for the grass now, but really I think it could make a huge difference. If we ask for all the improvements at once, I think it will seriously delay the project and we might not see anything for years. I think it is extremely important for people to see that something is being done on Electric Avenue. We have been getting a lot of support, but I think it will start to fade if we don't get something done soon. I don't know what would be the first step in actually building a park like this - grading, installing the irrigation system, building the pathway, or what, but at least one of those first steps needs to be done. We need to show people that we are serious about this, and that it can and will be done, and isn't just a dream or idle talk.

Updates as of September 10, 2004:

On the advice of landscape architect Richard Pope, we had soil tests done by Grow Power, Inc. and A & L Western Agricultural Labs last month. Earlier, there were some concerns about possible contaminants form the old railroad line, especially nickel and arsenic. The good news is that the results did not show any contaminants or anything else unusual. There should not be any problems for landscaping.

I left a letter and copies of the soil test results for Councilman Neil Derry a few days ago. We should probably meet with him again soon. Right now, we are are also looking at some simpler alternatives that could give termporary but immediate improvement to the site. If we could even have the trees planted, and just have the ground just tilled and planted with native flowers for now, that would at least be a huge improvement over how it is now. That is one option we are considering. Also, we found out the small trolley stop at Arrowhead Springs did survive the fires last fall, and we might be able to get it for our project. I think if we can bring it down and have it placed on the site on Electric Avenue, and get the trees planted, that would be a good start and that will at least show people this can be done. Ultimately, we want a grass parkway with landscaping, but this would at least be a good first step. But nothing has been decided yet and it is just an option our group is considering.

Updates as of May 31, 2004:

We have had more support from the neighborhood, and it turns out that a lot more people have heard about the project, but overall there is a frustrating lack of progress. We met with Councilman Neil Derry and Lemuel Randolph again and we went up to Electric Avenue to get their suggestions on what might be the best site for the replica trolley car. Unfortunately, everything is going to be much more complicated than I thought. It turns out the site we were originally considering for the replica car, north of 50th Street, will not work because the land is too steep and the path would not be ADA compliant. It might still be possible to have the replica a little farther south, below 50th Street where the land is relatively flat. But I personally think this is too close to the houses on Pershing and the residents may not want it there. There are a lot of problems that need to be worked out. I made some simple scale drawings on my computer earlier that show the ideas we had for the park, but we really need more professional help. The city does not have anyone in-house that could design this project. Lemeul Randolph suggested that we need to meet with an architect who might be able to help with planning. There are just too many variables and it's a big puzzle that we have to put together. We met with landscape architect Richard Pope on Tuesday, May 24. I gave him all the drawings I made, as well as some of the historic pictures I've collected of the Arrowhead Line. It turns out that Richard has actually seen the newspaper articles about the project. Richard suggested our first step should be to have the ground tested for possible contaminants. We don't think the ground is contaminated, but we have to get soil tests done to be sure. That is apparently the first step before any park is built. We should contact Richard again after we have the soil tests done. I hope he can help us. At this point, we've done everything we can. At least I know I've done everything I can. This is frustraing and overwhelming sometimes, but I know we have to keep going.

Updates as of February 2, 2004:

Some major progress to report! Tonight, the San Bernardino City Council passed a resolution, written and signed by the City Attorney, supporting the project and reserving the land on Electric Avenue as a public park. Everything we had originally proposed - the landscaped greenbelt and the replica trolley car - was included in the resolution. This is a major step! We have been getting a lot of support for the project, and in principle the city supported the idea. But now it's official! It's in writing! Now that we have support from the city and the land is reserved, we can move forward. Our next step should be to get a planning grant. We will also meet again with city Parks and Recreation Director, Lemuel Randolph, to ask what he needs and what else we can do to help.

Updates as of January 12, 2004:

Some progress to report. This afternoon, I picked up a copy of a map showing measurements (in linear feet, square feet, and acres) of the land on Electric Avenue from Parks and Recreation. The map was originally included in a memo sent by Tim Parker, Parks Superintendant, to the Director of Parks and Recreation back in 1986. Mostly likely, very little, if anything, has changed on Electric Avenue since then. I am assuming the map is still accurate. Apparently, there was some sort of idea similar to ours at that time. But for whatever reason, in all those years it never went any further. In the all the time I have researched the history of Electric Avenue (several years now) and worked on this project, I had never heard mention of any earlier suggestions for a greenbelt or historic site. But this map will definitely be helpful! We have the measurements of the land now, so this will make it much easier to make cost estimates. We will have a CRA meeting tomorrow night. We need to work out some important details, and then include these in a new proposal with the the land measurements to give to Parks and Recreation.

Updates as of December 30, 2003:

The project got some publicity today! Earlier this month, San Bernardino County Sun writer Teresa Rochester had interviewed me about the Electric Avenue project. Her article, "Railway Remembered," was in the font page of the local section today! It was a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be! I felt the article was very well written. It should help draw more attention to the project and help get us some much-needed support.

After the New Year holiday, we need to get back to work FAST! We need to ask Mr. Randolph if Parks and Recreation can have measurements of the land taken for cost estimates. These will be needed for the city to include this project in an application for grants.

I think with this article appearing in the paper, the pace is going to go up, so we need to be ready.

Updates as of December 18, 2003:

I was recently contacted by City Councilman Neil Derry about a grant from the Urban Parks Act of 2001. The Electric Avenue project might be eligible for funds from this grant. We attended a grant committee meeting yesterday and briefly explained the project. I gave copies of my proposal. Tonight, we attended another Parks Commission meeting. The commission was discussing various projects in the city and which ones should take priority. Ultimately, the city council will decide which projects to put in the grant application, but the Parks Commision was voting on the recommendations it would give to the city. As it turns out, our project is the only one listed for the 4th ward! Our project was voted as number 3 in the list of priorties, out of about 9 projects being considered. At least it's in the top 3! We still have a long way to go, but we are definitely on the city's radar now.

Updates as of November 20, 2003:

I attended a Parks Commission meeting and briefly spoke about our project. The commissioners were also given copies of the proposal. The Electric Avenue project was not on the regular agenda, so I could only give a very short explaination during the time for public comments. Mr. Randolph had said he would need more time with his staff to look at the proposal and actually study the site to make cost estimates. The project might be on the agenda for the meeting in January or February.

Updates as of November 12, 2003:

Things in San Bernardino are beginning to return to normal after surviving the devastating fires that hit much of southern California. We are now able to continue working on the Electric Avenue greenbelt and historic site project. Earlier, we met with City Councilman Neil Derry and Mr. Lemuel Randolph, the Director of Parks and Recreation. The meeting went very well and both Mr. Derry and Mr. Randolph seemed to be impressed and felt the project was feasible. Mr. Randolph suggested that we write another proposal with more specific detail about the scope of the project and what exactly we wanted. We did this, and today I delivered a letter and the proposal to Mr. Randolph's office at the City Parks and Recreation Department, and took copies to the City Council and the Mayor's office. The city council has a regular meeting on Monday, and Parks and Recreation will meet at the end of the month. So hopefully, we will hear something soon!

Updates as of October 13, 2003:

On Friday, October 10, 2003, we met with our city councilman, Neil Derry to discuss the project and get his advice on how to proceed. The meeting went very well! Mr. Derry thought the idea has definite potential, and he will be scheduling a meeting for us to meet with the director of Parks and Recreation, possibly later this week. If this greenbelt and historic site is built, it will be considered a city park site, and would thus have to be maintained by the Department of Parks and Recreation. We may also meet with Mayor Judith Valles soon!

Updates as of October 7, 2003:

A frustrating turn of events! On October 1, I sent a letter to Mr. Mark Schulte of the Realty Department of the Union Pacific Railroad. I included a copy of the entire proposal, County Accessor's parcel maps showing the land on Electric Avenue, historic pictures from when the Arrowhead Line was still in operation, the letters of support from the County Supervisor, and also recent photos of Electric Avenue showing how the abandoned right-of-way is now. Mr. Schulte called me on Thursday in response to my letter, and explained that the land did NOT belong to the Union Pacific! The land was sold to the city of San Bernardino in 1966! This was noted in book 6749, page 179 of the County Book of Deeds. I went down to the County Hall of Records later that same day and made a copy of the grant deed, and confirmed that the entire right-of-way on Electric Avenue was in fact sold to the city on August 5, 1966. The last several months spent trying to contact Union Pacific were apparently a waste of time, as the UP never owned the land! However, we have already made an appointment to meet with our city councilman, Neil Derry, to update him on the project and seek his advice on how we should proceed, now knowing that the land apparently belongs to the city. This is a frustrating setback, but all is not lost!

Updates as of August 26, 2003:

County Supervisor Dennis Hansberger (now the Chairman of the Third District!) has just recently sent another letter to the Union Pacific Railroad, on our behalf, to express his full support for the Electric Avenue greenbelt and historic site project. We obtained a copy of the letter a few days ago. We haven't heard anything yet from the County about any response from Union Pacific, but I am optomistic that we will soon. Also, I will be sending a letter to Union Pacific myself, detailing the history of the line and the greenbelt and historic site proposal. I will be meeting with State Assemblyman John Longville this week to see if he has read the copy of the proposal we gave to him, and to ask for his advice.

Updates as of June 10, 2003:

Finally, we are incorporated! Our Articles of Incorporation were finally approved by the state, and so now the "Community Redevelopment Alliance of San Bernardino" is a legally recognized organization. We still need to file the paperwork for our non-profit status, but since we are now a recognized organization, we should be able to hold the title to the right-of-way, or at least use of the land, for the Electric Avenue greenbelt and historic site project. Earlier, County Supervisor Hansberger's office had recommended that we contact State Assemblyman John Longville to get his advice on a letter we will be sending to the Union Pacific Railroad. This letter will be to discuss obtaining the land. This will be our next step.

Updates as of April 14, 2003:

Finally, some progress to report! On April 10, 2003 I was finally able to speak with the Realty Department of the Union Pacific Railroad, regarding the right-of-way on Electric Avenue. However, the gentleman I spoke with had just recently been assigned to the territory and was not familiar with the area or the history of the Arrowhead Hot Springs Line. I explained that I would send a copy of the original letter the County had sent to Union Pacific, as well as maps of the area showing the right-of-way, and he said this would be helpful. Next week, we will meet again with the County to explain what had happened and get their advice on how we should proceed.

Updates as of November 22, 2002:

We have recently contacted San Bernardino County Supervisor Dennis Hansberger to solicit his help in acquiring the former Pacific Electric Railway easement. In my earlier research, I found that according to the County Acessor's parcel maps, the right-of-way on Electric Avenue still belonged to the Southern Pacific Railroad. (In 1965, the Pacific Electric Railway was merged into the Southern Pacific Railroad and disappeared entirely as an operating company. All property and remaining equipment thus came under SP ownership.) Of course, several years ago, Southern Pacific merged with the Union Pacific Railroad, and ownership of the land has thus changed hands yet again, to come under the control of Union Pacific. Mr. Hansburger's office has recently contacted a representative of Union Pacific to discuss what the possibilities would be for UP to sell or perhaps even donate the right-of-way for our greenbelt and historic site project. We have not yet had a reply, and it is most likely that we will not hear from Union Pacific until at least January.

Updates as of September 1, 2002:

In late August, the Wildwood Park Neighborhood Cluster Association, to which the Electric Avenue Historic Site proposal was originally submitted, joined in a cooperative effort with The Arrowhead Farms and Kendall Hills neighborhood associations to form a nonprofit corporation, called the Community Redevelopment Alliance of San Bernardino (CRA).  This organization has as its goal to bring about many much-needed improvement and redevelopment projects in the community. Initially, this will focus primarily in the area of north San Bernardino. Ultimately, it is hoped the CRA can expand to form partnerships across San Bernardino County.

The Community Redevelopment Alliance of San Bernardino will soon begin the process to acquire the title to the former Pacific Electric Railway easement on Electric Avenue. When this is done, surveys and feasibility studies for the greenbelt and historic site can begin.