On Shaky Ground : Laguna Church Faces Costly Seismic Repair or Razing

City officials have ordered seismic improvements for a tiny cathedral built from the rubble of the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, but St. Francis by-the-Sea’s archbishop says the historic church cannot afford such a project and might have to be razed.

“We’ve been told we may have to demolish, or think of demolishing, the church unless we are going to be retrofitting it properly,” said Archbishop Simon Talarczyk. “And we don’t have the funding.”

Talarczyk said a preliminary estimate shows that the job to reinforce the diminutive structure would cost about $50,000.

Once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the smallest cathedral on earth, the American Catholic Church on Park Avenue is considered a historic treasure in Laguna Beach, where it was dedicated as a national landmark three years ago.

Able to accommodate only 65 worshipers at a time, the Cathedral Chapel of St. Francis by-the-Sea is known for a variety of reasons, including the fact that it is the only American Catholic Church in the state, Talarczyk said. The denomination is an obscure offshoot of, but not affiliated with, the Roman Catholic Church.

The cathedral’s decor is heavily influenced by an untraditional past that includes a spiritual brush with Eastern religion. A zodiac is tucked under the baptistery, and the words “Reincarnation” and “Spiritual Healing” are written on wooden beams that rise above statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

Talarczyk, who has been the cathedral’s spiritual guide for 26 years, said such eclectic touches have been allowed to remain out of respect for the church’s history.

“It’s not only a religious institution, but it is a landmark worthy of preservation,” he said.

The issue of earthquake safety versus historical value poses a prickly problem for the city of Laguna Beach, which has listed the church as an “excellent” specimen in its inventory of historic buildings.

Tamara Campbell, a city planner and liaison to the Heritage Committee, said it is unclear how the church’s dilemma will be resolved, but its listing on the National Register of Historic Places makes it less probable that the cathedral will be torn down.

Samir Ghosn, a city plan checker, said the church is one of about 30 buildings in Laguna Beach tagged for upgrades after a 1990 citywide survey of brick structures determined which were earthquake-safe. The targeted buildings, which include the downtown movie theater, must now be reinforced according to state law, he said.

The church, which is next to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, has been determined to be a “medium-risk building,” Ghosn said, because the brick walls are not strengthened with steel.

“It means providing seismic anchors and possibly steel frames so the walls do not collapse or buckle in a seismic event,” he said.

Ironically, the church is built with materials collected in Long Beach by its founder and first pastor after the earthquake there.

Richard Norris, the organist for 10 years, said the Rev. Percy Wise Clarkson “picked up a lot of things, either rubble or new material,” and hauled it back.

Clarkson had been the priest of an Episcopal church on a hill behind the site where St. Francis by-the-Sea now stands, Norris said. That church, made of plaster and horsehair, also collapsed in the 1933 earthquake, he said.

“That didn’t hit Laguna Beach very hard, but it was hard enough to knock that one down because that construction was very flimsy,” he said.

Talarczyk said the new church was sturdily constructed and that another of the church’s earlier bishops, who was also a contractor, once told him: “You’ll never have to worry about this building . . . it’s not only God holding it up, but it was very well built.”

“It’s been put together with a great deal of love,” Talarczyk said. “Of all the quakes and shakes they’ve had in Laguna over the years, there’s nothing that shows in our chapel.”

Generally, engineers working with such buildings can meet the safety requirements without destroying the aesthetics and historic value of the structure, Ghosn said.

“There are provisions by which they can hide most of it,” he said. “I think one of the challenges a structural engineer will face with this building is maintaining the front-facing walls with the existing openings such that it preserves its historic look. It will be a challenge.”

But the archbishop said the real challenge will be finding the money to pay for the work. While state or federal programs might offer funding for such projects at low interest rates, Talarczyk said the church does not have the resources to repay loans.

Financing options that require matching funds are also out, he said, adding that church coffers are so small that he does not take a salary as archbishop and earns a living from teaching high school in Garden Grove.

“We could not even be able to match half of what was requested. Our collections are barely enough to pay for the utilities,” Talarczyk said.

“If we don’t get the money to begin some construction, then the only thing we have to do is demolish the building. That’s all we can do.”