Aging Chapel Will Remain City Landmark : Ojai: Council approves study to assess renovations needed to house museum and Chamber of Commerce at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic church.

It is an aging chapel of 74 years, cracked and crumbling to its foundation, temporarily locked behind a rented chain-link fence.

Services have not been held behind the thick wooden doors since January.

But Ojai city officials and residents see more than a run-down, World War I-era Catholic church when they look upon the chipped Mission-style walls surrounding St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel.

They envision a civic attraction that will enhance downtown Ojai and house two of the city’s most vital tourist draws: the Ojai Valley Museum and Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau.

“It is one of the historical treasures of the city,” City Councilwoman Nina Shelley said. “For those of us who live here in Ojai, it’s a very cherished aspect of our everyday living.”

The city bought the church from the Los Angeles Archdiocese for $385,000 and closed escrow on the purchase last month.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously to spend up to $38,000 on an engineering study that will spell out what renovations must be performed before the new tenants can move in.

The city also plans to use at least $350,000 in redevelopment funds to implement engineer’s design standards and bring the structure up to earthquake-safety standards.

“It’ll be done basically just like the Arcade was” in 1989, Public Works Director W.S. (Stan) Moore said.

“The foundation may require some additional upgrading, the roof will have to come off, and there will be pump-grouting into the wall sections to make solid walls from the hollow-core walls,” Moore said.

The once-pristine chapel was designed by well-known architect Richard Requa, who also drew up plans for the city’s downtown Arcade and watchtower in the early part of the century.

As recently as 1990, church officials considered demolishing the structure and selling the land to help finance their new facility in Meiners Oaks. But city officials wanted to preserve the historic building.

“We thought from the very beginning (buying the chapel) was a win-win situation,” said Mayor Steven Olsen, who spearheaded the purchase. “The first priority for the city was to maintain the chapel as a historical landmark.”

Just last Sunday, a temblor measuring 3.1 on the Richter scale struck the Ojai Valley, but the chapel sustained no apparent damage, Moore said. “It would probably take a 4 or 5 to knock it down,” the public works director said.

Bids on the seismic work will go out as soon as April, with a contract to be awarded and work completed before the end of the next year, City Manager Andrew Belknap said.

Under an agreement between city, museum and chamber officials, the city’s obligation ends when the earthquake-proofing is completed. But then the real work begins.

Ojai Valley Museum officials, optimistic about relocating to the facility by the end of next year, will be responsible for renovating the rest of the grounds.

In exchange, the museum will get a long-term, nominal lease and nearly double the space it currently occupies.

Blueprints already have been redrawn several times, but Museum Director Sherry Smith said the latest rendering works best. Plans call for more than 5,000 square feet of space, including room for a library and larger gift shop, an open courtyard and vast exhibit areas.

“I think we’ll get a lot more visitors through with the new location, and having the chamber next door also will be a benefit,” Smith said.

The museum’s board of directors had stashed away more than $100,000 to pay for the improvements, which Smith estimates will top $300,000.

The money was to be spent renovating the cramped, two-story firehouse on Montgomery Street that now serves as the museum’s home. But when the opportunity to relocate to St. Thomas Aquinas arose, board members jumped.

No one at the museum is worried about raising the other $200,000.

“We’ve laid our souls on the line,” board member Joyce Nielsen said of efforts to keep the museum open. “We think it’s important that the people who live here or the people who visit here understand (Ojai’s) past.”

To help recoup the cost of remodeling the chapel, city officials plan to sell the Ojai Avenue chamber building and the old firehouse once the two agencies move.

“They haven’t gone on the market yet, but we have people interested in purchasing them,” Mayor Olsen said. “I don’t think we’ll have any problem selling them.”