When History Is Made of Clay

The J. Paul Getty Trust is involved in some fascinating work to preserve and stabilize historic Spanish missions in Southern California. One such project at Mission San Juan Capistrano, now in the infancy stage, could have far-reaching implications for protecting historic adobe structures throughout the state from earthquake damage.

Missions are threatened by more than earthquakes, and the trust has just announced a timely grant of $50,000 to the San Gabriel Mission in Los Angeles County for emergency repairs and a restoration analysis. Also, at Mission San Juan Capistrano, returning swallows will find the Great Stone Church wrapped in scaffolding during the next few years while a restoration project stabilizes and refaces crumbling sandstone. The Getty Conservation Institute, under the umbrella of the trust, is offering some support on that project. But the pioneering work will be in the institute’s efforts to assemble at San Juan Capistrano a collaborative project on adobe seismic stabilization.

The institute already has been doing research at a field project in New Mexico to preserve adobe from the ravages of weathering. The mission project will take it further to consider earthquake protection. The institute hopes to bring together experts and project engineers already at the mission. The ambitious goal is for new and accepted methods of damage control.

Sadly, historic adobe structures have fallen victim to earthquakes. Their dwindling number makes this project a race against time. The trust and mission consultants deserve praise for their efforts to preserve the state’s historic architecture.