Restored to Glory : Worshipers Flock to View Renovated Artwork at Quake-Damaged Church

To outsiders, the cathedral-like, gold-domed Greek Orthodox church sitting on a knoll in Northridge appeared unshaken by the January, 1994, earthquake.

But, in fact, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church sustained $1.7 million in interior damage to its soaring mosaics, walls and windows. Only this month has its 1,100-family congregation been able to worship without scaffolding blocking the view of its Byzantine-style artwork.

Since repair work on the structure--the only Greek Orthodox church in the San Fernando Valley--was completed, “our church has been jammed,” Father Spencer T. Kezios said Monday. “We get a second chance to admire the beauty of the interior that we took for granted for so long.”

The original iconographer, Sirio Tonelli of Italy, returned his mosaics to their unblemished state. The work had originally been completed in two stages, during 1966-67 and 1990-91. Stained-glass windows in the walls and in the church’s huge dome also had to be replaced.

Artist Norma D’Andrea was commissioned to etch with religious symbols the windows and glass doors that serve as a partition between the church’s entrance on Balboa Boulevard and the church sanctuary.

The restoration comes at a high price. “We will have to raise about $700,000 from the congregation,” said Kezios. The costs, he said, were only partially offset by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for parochial school repairs, donations from a national Greek Orthodox group, and proceeds from the church’s popular Greek Festival. The church has applied for a federal Small Business Administration loan, the priest said.

Kezios, who has shepherded the parish for 35 years, said he is confident that the congregation is up to the task.

“Our spirit has been raised noticeably in recent months,” he said. “The Orthodox church is the center of Orthodox Christian family life. When our church is brought back to good health, we can all come home and heal.”