Catamaran Chapel Going to Navy Land

The little chapel that was displaced in early September during the renovation of the Catamaran Hotel in Pacific Beach will have a new home two miles east of its current resting spot at Bayard Street and Grand Avenue.

The 700-square-foot chapel, originally a family dining hall when the Fred T. Scripps estate occupied the Catamaran grounds and later a popular wedding site, will be moved Thursday morning to a triangular piece of Navy-owned land on the south side of Garnet Avenue near Soledad Mountain Road.

Although there was agreement about preserving the chapel in the community, previous proposals for a permanent home had generated controversy. An earlier proposal to locate the chapel in Kate O. Sessions Park met with resistance from residents’ associations near the park and from the Pacific Beach Planning Group, which favored preserving open space.

Ruth Smith, a longtime community activist who had supported placing the chapel in an undeveloped area of the park, said of the new site: “I think it’s wonderful.” She emphasized the urgency of finding a site for the chapel because its current location had been previously committed to Christmas tree sales beginning Nov. 15.

The new site, which lies between Rose Creek and several Navy houses, will be landscaped and maintained by the Pacific Beach Town Council under an agreement negotiated by Jim Ryan, an aide to Rep. Bill Lowery (R-San Diego) and a member of the town council.

Ryan characterized the deal struck with the Navy as a “last-chance shot” at keeping the chapel intact and in Pacific Beach. He said Alpine and Julian had inquired about getting the chapel.

Although details of the five-year lease have yet to be worked out, Ryan said Capt. H.R. Fraunfelder, commanding officer of the Navy Public Works Department, approved the move within a day of Ryan’s meeting with two Navy negotiators.

The Pacific Beach Town Council will put in a hedge as a buffer between the chapel and the Navy houses, pay for insurance and other costs, and share the building, which it owns, with the Navy.

Jeff Sykes, president of the council, said he spotted the new site some time ago, but gave up on the idea when he discovered that it was owned by the Navy, fearing that negotiations would take too long. He credited Lowery’s office with speeding up the process.

Sykes said the council would rely on volunteers to provide labor and materials for the landscaping, painting and other chores involved in creating a permanent home for the historically significant chapel.

Lowery, Ryan, members of the Pacific Beach Town Council, and Navy officials will participate in a ground-breaking ceremony at 8:45 Thursday morning at the new site. At 9 a.m., John Hansen House Movers will prepare the chapel for its second trip in two months.