OJAI : 107-Year-Old Church May Become Gallery

Ojai Valley’s oldest church may become a gallery featuring local and early California art.

Ojai residents David Marr and Delores Youtz have applied for a permit to operate an art gallery and antiques shop in the 107-year-old building at 213 N. Montgomery St.

The Planning Commission will consider the application June 6.

“We have a lot of positive response from people who don’t want to see it become a bunch of shops or a wedding chapel,” Marr said.

“What better place for art than in a church?” said Ojai painter Ted Campos, who said he was so inspired by the prospect that he dashed off a painting of the historic building for Marr two weeks ago.

The Presbyterians built the bell-towered building in 1883 and later sold it to the Church of the Nazarene. The Nazarenes also outgrew the 1,839-square-foot building and sold it in 1985 to Remutulah Merali, an admirer of philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, and a commercial developer. Alarmed that Merali planned to move the church off the property and possibly out of Ojai, the City Council quickly formed a Cultural Heritage Board and designated the church as the city’s first historical landmark in 1986.

Merali embarked on a three-year effort to persuade the Planning Commission that the church should be converted into an mall of shops and offices. The commission rejected each design because of a lack of parking space.

Marr and Youtz, who rent the church from Merali, have also asked the city to waive the parking requirements for their proposed gallery. They say it primarily will serve walk-in clients or those with appointments, including schoolchildren on art field trips.

Marr and Youtz’s collection includes paintings by Diego Rivera, French impressionist Alfred Sisley, Franklin Roosevelt’s friend George Biddle, Ventura County artist Douglas Schivley and Ojai painter William Dorsey.

If the permit is approved, the church will be equipped with an alarm.