Covina's Firehouse and Jail Museum to celebrate building's centennial

COVINA - The one experience every local grade-school student can count on is the chance be locked up in a 100-year-old jail.

The Covina Firehouse and Jail Museum has been open Sundays (except holiday weekends) since 1979, offering tours and letting children find out what it's like to be behind bars.

The building, tucked behind City Hall off a College Street alley, opened in 1911 as Covina's headquarters for emergency services, housing a volunteer fire department, a marshal and four prison cells.

It was still used as police headquarters until 1976, when the department moved to its current location and donated the old firehouse to the Covina Valley Historical Society.

For the centennial, the historical society is planning a celebration this Saturday from 10a.m. to 1p.m.

"We have a lot going on here, and we want to get people more aware of the museum," said Fred Feldheim, chairman of the centennial committee.

Saturday's celebration will include modern and historic fire engines and police vehicles, a Covina model display, exhibit tours, food booths, a Covina Concert Band performance and presales of historian Barbara Ann Hall's new book, "Covina Valley Citrus Industry."

There also will be formal presentations at 11a.m., including a centennial welcome speech by Mayor John King.

"It's an amazing museum that really gives us the ability to look back at Covina's past," King said.

When the historical society acquired the firehouse, it had been expanded for the Police Department's requirements. The additions were torn down and the building restored to its original look.

"Most people don't even know something was added to the back," Feldheim said.

The three-year museum conversion was managed by the late Bill Temple, a historian who took charge of a project to fill in a basement and could often be seen doing work on the building.

"He was the spearhead for sure," said Laura Brady, the historical society's docent chair.

According to Brady, Temple often liked to tell a story about the time a city employee walked by and said "What's that old man doing on the roof?"

Centennial organizers also are hoping the event will create more interest in local history, and perhaps bring in a few more volunteers.

Because of the museum's low-visibility location, the historical society came up with the idea of sending youngsters through the Covina Farmers Market on Fridays to get people interested in the firehouse, Feldheim said.

Much-honored grad has helped raise millions for CHC » Chestnut ...

By Jean-Bernard Hyppolite

Barbara Martino, 72, encompasses the spirit of Chestnut Hill.  Born in Philadelphia, Barbara, who graduated from Chestnut Hill College in 1960, with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, has devoted much of her time and effort since her graduation to the college and the area in general. This includes using her education to help others.

“I get a lot of peace out of doing it, and that’s why I volunteer,” she said.

Barbara’s contributions to Chestnut Hill College are extensive. She is the school’s current Chair of the Board of Directors and of the Executive Committee of the Board. She was the President of the Alumnae Association between 1982 and 1984. Barbara cemented her leadership with the school when she was the Chair of Chestnut Hill College’s first Capital Campaign from 1989 to 1992, which exceeded its goal of $4 million by raising over $5 million, thus beginning the renewal of the college’s science laboratories.  This all led to Barbara earning the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Alumnae Association in 2001. Then, in 2004 she was a recipient of the Eleanor Dolan, Class of 1928, Award for outstanding Services to Chestnut Hill College.

“I spent a lot of time and effort there because it’s a great school,” Martino exclaimed. “In the last eight or nine years I think it’s gotten its place on the map since we went co-educational, and we purchased the property at Sugarloaf across the road. We’re now at Division II of the NCAA, so, it’s a school that’s on the move. The graduate school is always filled. We graduate anywhere between 12 and 18 Ph.D’s every year. It grew from a small independent Catholic woman’s college to what it is today, and it is still growing.”

Barbara has a Hall dedicated to her efforts. As noted in a previous article in the Local, Barbara D’Lorio Martino Hall was completed in October of 2000. It houses “smart” classrooms, the Connelly Telecommunications Center, and serves both the CHC basketball and women’s volleyball team. The Ann Rusnack Sorgenti Arena lies on the lower level and is a multi-purpose venue that features two sets of retractable bleachers that seat up to 450 fans for an athletic competition.

“I’m honored; it’s a building that wasn’t named after a deceased Sister of Saint Joseph,” laughed Barbara, noting that other buildings on the campus are named after deceased Sisters of Saint Joseph.

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