Schuller Proposes to Build 6-Story Center Next to Cathedral

The Rev. Robert Schuller said Thursday that he wants to build a six-story, $15-million family center next door to his Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove and promised to relocate people living in an 84-unit apartment complex that would be razed to make way for the project.

On Dec. 31, the church purchased the apartment complex and the 3.5-acres of land on which it stands for about $5 million, and has spent the ensuing weeks “very secretly determining” how to provide adequate relocation help for the tenants, Schuller said at a press conference. Although relocation assistance is not legally required, Schuller said, he will provide not only cash but help in finding new homes.

He wouldn’t say exactly how much those payments would amount to, only that each tenant or family living in the Jetty Circle apartment complex just west of the cathedral would be dealt with individually and that the church would use the same formula that the City of Garden Grove uses for redevelopment projects.

Relocation will be a blessing for the apartment dwellers, Schuller argued, because many of the units are substandard and a few have been closed by city inspectors because of building code violations. Their quality of life “will be better,” he said. “It cannot be worse.”

City building inspectors have found the apartments to be a constant source of problems, said Stuart Miller, Garden Grove’s development services director. He said electrical, plumbing and vermin problems are common and in some cases doors have been locked in two-bedroom apartments so they could be rented to two families.

Mail Department

Youth activities, recreation facilities, Bible study classes and the “international mail-handling” department for the church’s televised sermons will be housed in the new granite-and-glass building, Schuller said.

About 150 employees work in the mailing department, handling more than 40,000 letters a week received from followers and viewers of Schuller’s “Hour of Power” TV show, which he said draws about 3 million viewers every Sunday. The top floor will be devoted to a new graduate school in communications for young Catholic and Protestant clergy members. Schuller, who started out with a ministry at a drive-in movie theater and now has a complex featuring the 15-story Tower of Hope office building and an $18-million cathedral with about 10,000 panes of glass, said the school is his latest dream.

“We believe that the priests or pastors of the future have to be taught how to communicate,” said Schuller, who preaches a “power of possibility thinking” philosophy to his flock.

Neighboring property owners have expressed concerns about the plans. Last year, when Schuller proposed building the center and a cemetery on current church property at the southwest corner of Lewis Street and Chapman Avenue, neighbors showed up at City Council meetings to voice their opposition. They cited fears of increased traffic, parking and noise that they say is already at peak levels because of office construction in the area and Sunday services at the church.

Eventually, Schuller withdrew the plans for the center. But he pressed on with the cemetery proposal, and last November the City Council voted 3 to 2 to allow burials on a triangular-shaped parcel of land next to the new family center site. Church officials said they have already received more than 150 requests for reservations in the cemetery.

The family center will not affect parking and traffic in the neighborhood, he said, because a 500-space parking facility will be built on the site. And the location is on Chapman Avenue, so visitors won’t be driving on residential streets.

Some tenants in the apartment complex said they aren’t optimistic about finding available and affordable housing in the area, although they admitted numerous problems with the apartments. Said Martha Sabin, a 34-year-old single mother of four: “I’m worried about just how far away relocation would be.”

Antonio Moreno, who lives in a three-bedroom, $765 unit with five relatives, said there is still some crime in the area but things have improved with increased police patrols recently. “Used to be a lot of cholos, guys with big tattoos, would hang out here,” he said. “But no more.”

Schuller met with about 150 people, most of them homeowners, from the neighborhood Thursday night at the Garden Grove Community Center to discuss the impact of his new project. Also in attendance were about a dozen tenants who live in the apartment complex that is scheduled to be demolished.

Schuller assured them that he was committed to following the relocation guidelines set by the City Council.

“We can’t demolish or sell any of that land until we solve this problem (relocation),” Schuller said. He added that he has no plans to continue expanding the cathedral grounds.

Schuller said he briefed about 1,000 members of his congregation Wednesday night and received overwhelming support for the plan. He said he hopes to get swift approval from the city, perhaps within 90 days.

The preacher added with a smile that he believes he has heavenly backing for this project. “The Lord and I get along great,” he said.

Times staff writer Leonel Sanchez contributed to this story.