Ojai Agency to Discuss Effort to Buy Chapel From Archdiocese
The Ojai Redevelopment Agency will hold a closed-session discussion tonight about efforts to buy the historic St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
The agency made a $300,000 offer earlier this year to buy the chapel property at 130 W. Ojai Ave., city officials said, and negotiations are proceeding.
City officials plan to upgrade the chapel, designed by the same architect who built many of Ojai’s other historic structures, and make it home to the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Ojai Valley Historical Museum.
If the sale goes through, a number of repairs would be needed before the building could be used, City Manager Andrew Belknap said. Repair costs would come from several sources, including Redevelopment Agency funds, museum funds and revenue earned from selling the current Chamber of Commerce and museum buildings, Belknap said.
Councilwoman Nina Shelley said she supports the chapel acquisition because of the building’s historic value.
The chapel is one of the buildings that define “the architectural theme of Ojai,” Shelley said.
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