North : FULLERTON : Landmark Hotel Made Safer From Quakes

A venerable 73-year-old landmark was made more resistant to earthquakes Tuesday.

The Villa del Sol--once known as the California Hotel--underwent a 1 1/2-hour procedure in which seven-ton steel frames were inserted into the three-story building’s walls, bringing it up to state seismic standards.

The rest of the structure’s rehabilitation will be completed a year ahead of schedule, owners said.

With the help of a couple of low-interest and no-interest loans from the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency, a group of investors bought the building last year after its former owner declared bankruptcy, officials said.

The new owners said they are trying to restore the building to the way it looked in 1922, when it was built as the California Hotel.

The hotel was originally owned by a group of residents, including the city’s first mayor, Charles C. Chapman. In the late 1960s, it was purchased by owners who turned it into a commercial center with shops and business offices.

“I think this building is a very important building to the downtown area to maintain the atmosphere of old Fullerton,” Councilman Don Bankhead said. “I’m very happy that [the owners] were able to save it. . . . It adds a lot of character to the downtown area.”