The Central Coast Regional Heritage Foundation is responsible for creating and managing historical and educational
programs that highlight the cultural heritage of the Central Coast of California.
Located at 1 Station Place, the historic Southern Pacific Freight Building is now home to the Salinas City Regional Heritage Center and California Welcome Center. Salinas’ Station Place location is the home of other museums and points of interest for visitors. This includes the 1868 First Mayor’s House, the Monterey Salinas Valley Railroad Museum in the historic Railroad Express Agency Building, and the Steaming Ahead vintage railcar exhibit.
Heritage tourism presents a growing opportunity to increase tourist visits throughout Monterey and San Benito Counties, contributing to placemaking and fostering community among residents. As visitors learn more about our diverse agricultural and ethnic heritage, this can also stimulate opportunities for agritourism and cultural tourism. Phase two of this initiative, when approved by the City of Salinas, will expand the build-out of the space to the remaining two-thirds of the Southern Pacific Freight Depot building, accommodating larger gatherings, as well as more interactive exhibits and experiences.
Expansion of the remaining depot footprint – Valleys of Anza interpretive displays, featuring the Mexican and Spanish periods, as well as the First Peoples, are also located on the Juan Bautista De Anza National Historic Trail.
The Heritage Center has been a hub for meeting sites. Educators, tour groups, students, historic preservationists, agricultural groups, and other community organizations have all appreciated the gathering space for meeting in a historic setting.
The Central Coast Regional Heritage Foundation is poised to launch a fundraising campaign for tenant improvements to expand exhibits and support facilities throughout the remainder of the freight depot building. This effort will also serve as a foundation to attract additional funding and sponsorships for the other historic properties on Station Place, now referred to as Salinas City Heritage Park, California.
Built in 1873, the Southern Pacific Freight Depot is the oldest surviving commercial building in Salinas, California.
The Central Coast Regional Heritage Foundation is actively collaborating with a network of stakeholders who manage operations at the Station Place historic properties, as well as nearby partner properties, including the National Steinbeck Center and The Steinbeck House. This collaboration is working to mutually promote and develop visitor attractions at what has become known as Heritage Park. These activities align with and help meet the goals of the City of Salinas’s General Plan elements related to culture, historic preservation, and heritage tourism, as well as the Downtown Vibrancy Plan.
In partnership with the University of California, Berkeley’s Master of Urban Design Program, the master ‘master-level students analyzed existing conditions in the downtown Salinas core area to evaluate the potential for enhancing tourism sites and programs. Their findings identified at least six sites in proximity to the Heritage Center that potentially form a “Cultural Commons” network. As identified earlier in the 1998 Historic Evaluations of Properties in the area by Historian Kent Seavy, numerous opportunities exist for integrating these sites into a historic district, thereby expanding heritage tourism opportunities.
Success requires a solid, collaborative, mutually respectful public/private partnership between the City of Salinas and the stakeholders of Salinas City Heritage Park.
