TEHACHAPI, Calif. -- The historical Tehachapi Train Depot burned to the ground on Jun. 13, 2008.

Investigators said illegal fireworks were to blame, and a month later, police arrested Brian O'Donnell and Jason Watson.

Fred Motter, the president of Friends of the Depot, said he is excited to close this chapter in the Depots history.

“It was a surprise and a relief when we got the word that the court case had been settled. It’s been probably 20 months since the event when this happened, and I really think that is a long time for the community and the defendants to wait to get a resolution,” Motter said.

With the plea deal, both men will have to pay a $435 fine, have three years of probation and Watson will spend 20 days in jail. O’Donnell instead of jail time will have 160 hours of community service.

City councilman Shane Reed thinks that community service should be fulfilled in Tehachapi.

“One of the gentleman who’s going to do community service instead of jail time, it’d be really nice if he could do his community service here and try to fix some of the damage he has caused,” said Reed.

The original depot went through four years of restoration before it burned down, and the new depot has been under construction for seven months.

When you add up all those hours, Motter believes the men’s punishment doesn’t add up.

“There is a disparity there, if you would, in the outcome. If you weighed out the different balance of that, you would probably come up with some numbers that were not real good numbers,” said Motter.

But rather than dwelling on whether or not the men’s punishment is fair, with the new depot built, most folks are looking toward the future.

But that doesn’t mean residents will soon forget the fire the destroyed the historical train depot.

The depot will officially be opened on June 5. Now, Friends of the Depot is looking for people to volunteer their time at the depot once it re-opens.

If you would like to volunteer, you can call Friends of the Depot at 661-823-1100.