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Revitalizing Vibiana's
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| St. Vibiana's Cathedral, once home to the Los Angeles Archdiocese, has sat largely unused since it suffered extensive damage in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. More than $8 million has been spent turning it into a performing arts center. Photo by Gary Leonard. |
After $8 Million in Fixes, Cathedral Stages Comeback
by Chris Coates
Last Wednesday morning, the former St. Vibiana's Cathedral at Second and Main streets didn't look like the type of place you'd expect Pope John Paul II to have spent the night in 18 years ago.
A half-full wine glass sat along one of the century-old marble walls. Stacks of tables and chairs rested beneath the lobby's ornate gold ceiling. Sound equipment waited in the grassy courtyard.
All told, it looked like there had just been a party. And, in fact, that was just the case.
After 10 years and millions of dollars in seismic retrofitting and restoration, Vibiana Place opened Saturday, Nov. 12, for its first official event - "Viva Vibiana," a gala that, fittingly, fêted its restoration.
"In many ways, it was a homecoming experience for the Conservancy, because this was a building that was such a fight," said Linda Dishman, executive director of the Los Angeles Conservancy, which fought to save the 129-year-old cathedral.
For the $350-a-plate party, which attracted the likes of Ben Stiller and Diane Keaton, the cathedral's interior was dressed up as a nightclub, with the old altar serving as a stage.
While the space won't be completely finished until at least early next year, Dishman said the party was nonetheless a milestone. "It's important to fight for what you believe in and celebrate when you're successful," she said.
Backed by the Conservancy, developers Tom Gilmore and Richard Weintraub have spent $8 million turning the earthquake-damaged church into what they hope will become a bustling events center and performance venue. Home to the Los Angeles Archdiocese for more than a century, St. Vibiana's was shuttered after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. In its new role, Vibiana Place will host concerts, parties, performances and community events.
"This was once the center of L.A.," Gilmore said, "and I have every intention of letting it reconnect in that role."
Aside from a few crosses etched in light fixtures, virtually all touches of St. Vibiana's former liturgical role have been erased. The pews are gone, along with the religious statues that graced the marble altar. Along both sides of the empty cathedral, 12 former confessionals have had their doors removed.
"All this was ripped out," said Gilmore on a recent tour, pointing to the eastern wall of the cathedral that underwent seismic bracing. Crews installed a supportive cage beneath the floor, and the walls and roof were secured and reinforced.
Over the next three months, the 83-foot bell tower will be retrofitted with a concrete shell and cracks will be filled. Then the intricate cupola, which was removed after the 1994 temblor, will be hoisted into place.
The seismic work has strengthened Vibiana's exterior, enabling it to withstand future quakes. "If there's an earthquake, run in here," joked Gilmore, who in the 1990s helped create the Old Bank District, a neighborhood of lofts in converted office buildings at Fourth and Main streets.
While the cathedral restoration was a large project by itself, Gilmore isn't finished. He's envisioning another phase that involves adding a restaurant, hotel and a ground-up residential tower. The total price tag: $77 million.
Spared from the Wrecking Ball
The story of how a former house of worship was transformed into the scene of a celebrity party is one that involves years of political lobbying, legal wrangling and millions of dollars in funding.
Dedicated in 1876 and modeled after a church in Barcelona, the 1,200-seat St. Vibiana's was once the city's main Roman Catholic Church and home to the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
That changed with the devastating 1994 Northridge earthquake. The then 118-year-old cathedral suffered extensive damage and portions were red-tagged.
St. Vibiana's closed in May 1995 and Cardinal Roger Mahony, the archbishop of Los Angeles, suggested demolishing it and building a new church in its place. The proposal to raze the church spurred a pitched battle between the archdiocese and Conservancy.
After some legal maneuvering brought on by the preservation group, Mahony eventually backed down. In late 1996, the archdiocese decided to purchase a 5.5-acre site at Temple Street and Grand Avenue - where it opened the $195 million Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in 2002.
Questions remained as to what would happen with the crumbling Vibiana's. At the time, Gilmore had just begun to make a name for himself in the Old Bank District. He paid $4.6 million for the church.
Over the years, Gilmore has floated a number of ambitious ideas for the property, ranging from creating a charter school on the site to building a ground-up restaurant designed by Walt Disney Concert Hall architect Frank Gehry. Many of those proposals have withered or were vastly altered.
For example, the northeast corner of the property, which formerly held the cathedral's school, was sold to the city to build the Little Tokyo Branch Library.
The Gehry element, slated to rise on a grassy courtyard on the northwest corner of the property, was recently scrapped to preserve green space, Gilmore said.
Original plans also called for California State University, Los Angeles to play a major part in the project, including programming the space. The participation of the school allowed Vibiana's to receive $4 million in state funds for the restoration.
But Dr. Carl Selkin, dean of Cal State's College of Arts and Letters, said no specific timetable has been worked out as to when the school may use the space. "[Gilmore] and our side need to come together and develop a plan for our access and use of St. Vibiana's," he said. "We need to figure out a time-share arrangement."
Gilmore, meanwhile, said the role of Cal State has been reduced, but "only to the extent that they don't have a lot funding to be able to put on the productions. We'd like to get them in here as much as possible."
Residential and Restaurant
Gilmore's plans for the remainder of the property now include a $60 million residential element to be built on a plot just south of the cathedral. Gilmore said specifics are still being worked out, but the project, designed by West L.A.-based Nadel Architects, will include 300 units.
"It's currently conceived of as a high-rise tower," Gilmore said, although he declined to indicate its height. The ground-up project is in the entitlement phase, and is expected to break ground by summer 2006.
With the residential element, Gilmore said the idea is to have a mix of high- and low-rise buildings that will play off one another. "We're really dancing with the architecture, and I think we're having success with it. Things are going up instead of out," he said.
Gilmore is also working to secure an operator for a restaurant on the ground floor of the existing rectory along Second Street. Built in 1933, the five-story building includes a maze of hallways with small living quarters, kitchens, dressing areas and balconies. (Pope John Paul II stayed there during his September 1987 trip to Los Angeles.)
The proposed eatery would face out onto the rectory's internal courtyard and its bubbling fountain. The developer is negotiating with two well-known restaurateurs to operate it. The upper floors would be turned into a 30-room boutique hotel.
The conversion of the rectory would cost $3 million, bringing the total endeavor to $77 million, Gilmore said. "This, when it's done, will be my largest project," he said.
So far reaction over Vibiana Place has been positive - even from the archdiocese that battled to tear it down.
"We couldn't be happier that the former cathedral is being put to such a worthy civic use," said Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Archdiocese. "We're very pleased with it."
Dishman, meanwhile, said the restoration effort shows there is room for preservation in L.A. "So much of the power structure in Los Angeles was against the preservation of that building," she said. "It was really a defining moment in the Conservancy's history for standing up for what we believe in."
"I think what people saw was that saving stuff like this isn't just the folly of preservationists," Gilmore said. "It's part of a broader urban philosophy that says, 'Build all the new you want, but save the valuable old stuff because it enhances the new.' Development does not mean that the wrecking ball has to come out."
Contact Chris Coates at chris@downtownnews.com.
page 1, 11/21/2005
© Los Angeles Downtown News. Reprinting items retrieved from the archives are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or retransmitted without permission of the Los Angeles Downtown News. If you would like to redistribute anything from the Los Angeles Downtown News Archives, please call our permissions department at (213) 481-1448.
A half-full wine glass sat along one of the century-old marble walls. Stacks of tables and chairs rested beneath the lobby's ornate gold ceiling. Sound equipment waited in the grassy courtyard.
All told, it looked like there had just been a party. And, in fact, that was just the case.
After 10 years and millions of dollars in seismic retrofitting and restoration, Vibiana Place opened Saturday, Nov. 12, for its first official event - "Viva Vibiana," a gala that, fittingly, fêted its restoration.
"In many ways, it was a homecoming experience for the Conservancy, because this was a building that was such a fight," said Linda Dishman, executive director of the Los Angeles Conservancy, which fought to save the 129-year-old cathedral.
For the $350-a-plate party, which attracted the likes of Ben Stiller and Diane Keaton, the cathedral's interior was dressed up as a nightclub, with the old altar serving as a stage.
While the space won't be completely finished until at least early next year, Dishman said the party was nonetheless a milestone. "It's important to fight for what you believe in and celebrate when you're successful," she said.
Backed by the Conservancy, developers Tom Gilmore and Richard Weintraub have spent $8 million turning the earthquake-damaged church into what they hope will become a bustling events center and performance venue. Home to the Los Angeles Archdiocese for more than a century, St. Vibiana's was shuttered after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. In its new role, Vibiana Place will host concerts, parties, performances and community events.
"This was once the center of L.A.," Gilmore said, "and I have every intention of letting it reconnect in that role."
Aside from a few crosses etched in light fixtures, virtually all touches of St. Vibiana's former liturgical role have been erased. The pews are gone, along with the religious statues that graced the marble altar. Along both sides of the empty cathedral, 12 former confessionals have had their doors removed.
"All this was ripped out," said Gilmore on a recent tour, pointing to the eastern wall of the cathedral that underwent seismic bracing. Crews installed a supportive cage beneath the floor, and the walls and roof were secured and reinforced.
Over the next three months, the 83-foot bell tower will be retrofitted with a concrete shell and cracks will be filled. Then the intricate cupola, which was removed after the 1994 temblor, will be hoisted into place.
The seismic work has strengthened Vibiana's exterior, enabling it to withstand future quakes. "If there's an earthquake, run in here," joked Gilmore, who in the 1990s helped create the Old Bank District, a neighborhood of lofts in converted office buildings at Fourth and Main streets.
While the cathedral restoration was a large project by itself, Gilmore isn't finished. He's envisioning another phase that involves adding a restaurant, hotel and a ground-up residential tower. The total price tag: $77 million.
The story of how a former house of worship was transformed into the scene of a celebrity party is one that involves years of political lobbying, legal wrangling and millions of dollars in funding.
Dedicated in 1876 and modeled after a church in Barcelona, the 1,200-seat St. Vibiana's was once the city's main Roman Catholic Church and home to the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
That changed with the devastating 1994 Northridge earthquake. The then 118-year-old cathedral suffered extensive damage and portions were red-tagged.
St. Vibiana's closed in May 1995 and Cardinal Roger Mahony, the archbishop of Los Angeles, suggested demolishing it and building a new church in its place. The proposal to raze the church spurred a pitched battle between the archdiocese and Conservancy.
After some legal maneuvering brought on by the preservation group, Mahony eventually backed down. In late 1996, the archdiocese decided to purchase a 5.5-acre site at Temple Street and Grand Avenue - where it opened the $195 million Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in 2002.
Questions remained as to what would happen with the crumbling Vibiana's. At the time, Gilmore had just begun to make a name for himself in the Old Bank District. He paid $4.6 million for the church.
Over the years, Gilmore has floated a number of ambitious ideas for the property, ranging from creating a charter school on the site to building a ground-up restaurant designed by Walt Disney Concert Hall architect Frank Gehry. Many of those proposals have withered or were vastly altered.
For example, the northeast corner of the property, which formerly held the cathedral's school, was sold to the city to build the Little Tokyo Branch Library.
The Gehry element, slated to rise on a grassy courtyard on the northwest corner of the property, was recently scrapped to preserve green space, Gilmore said.
Original plans also called for California State University, Los Angeles to play a major part in the project, including programming the space. The participation of the school allowed Vibiana's to receive $4 million in state funds for the restoration.
But Dr. Carl Selkin, dean of Cal State's College of Arts and Letters, said no specific timetable has been worked out as to when the school may use the space. "[Gilmore] and our side need to come together and develop a plan for our access and use of St. Vibiana's," he said. "We need to figure out a time-share arrangement."
Gilmore, meanwhile, said the role of Cal State has been reduced, but "only to the extent that they don't have a lot funding to be able to put on the productions. We'd like to get them in here as much as possible."
Gilmore's plans for the remainder of the property now include a $60 million residential element to be built on a plot just south of the cathedral. Gilmore said specifics are still being worked out, but the project, designed by West L.A.-based Nadel Architects, will include 300 units.
"It's currently conceived of as a high-rise tower," Gilmore said, although he declined to indicate its height. The ground-up project is in the entitlement phase, and is expected to break ground by summer 2006.
With the residential element, Gilmore said the idea is to have a mix of high- and low-rise buildings that will play off one another. "We're really dancing with the architecture, and I think we're having success with it. Things are going up instead of out," he said.
Gilmore is also working to secure an operator for a restaurant on the ground floor of the existing rectory along Second Street. Built in 1933, the five-story building includes a maze of hallways with small living quarters, kitchens, dressing areas and balconies. (Pope John Paul II stayed there during his September 1987 trip to Los Angeles.)
The proposed eatery would face out onto the rectory's internal courtyard and its bubbling fountain. The developer is negotiating with two well-known restaurateurs to operate it. The upper floors would be turned into a 30-room boutique hotel.
The conversion of the rectory would cost $3 million, bringing the total endeavor to $77 million, Gilmore said. "This, when it's done, will be my largest project," he said.
So far reaction over Vibiana Place has been positive - even from the archdiocese that battled to tear it down.
"We couldn't be happier that the former cathedral is being put to such a worthy civic use," said Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Archdiocese. "We're very pleased with it."
Dishman, meanwhile, said the restoration effort shows there is room for preservation in L.A. "So much of the power structure in Los Angeles was against the preservation of that building," she said. "It was really a defining moment in the Conservancy's history for standing up for what we believe in."
"I think what people saw was that saving stuff like this isn't just the folly of preservationists," Gilmore said. "It's part of a broader urban philosophy that says, 'Build all the new you want, but save the valuable old stuff because it enhances the new.' Development does not mean that the wrecking ball has to come out."
Contact Chris Coates at chris@downtownnews.com.
page 1, 11/21/2005
© Los Angeles Downtown News. Reprinting items retrieved from the archives are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or retransmitted without permission of the Los Angeles Downtown News. If you would like to redistribute anything from the Los Angeles Downtown News Archives, please call our permissions department at (213) 481-1448.
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