Informed Opinions on Today’s Topics : A Landmark Battle Over St. Vibiana’s

St. Vibiana’s Cathedral, a 120-year-old church in the skid row area of downtown Los Angeles, also stands in the midst of a battle between preservationists and community activists as well as city and church officials.

Cardinal Roger Mahony wants to demolish the church--long the seat of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles--and replace it with a much larger $50-million complex.

However, landmark status from the city prohibits the church from being torn down.

Although the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission voted against removing the building’s landmark status, the City Council this week is likely to vote for the change.

If the archdiocese does not get its way, Mahony has threatened to build a new cathedral elsewhere, perhaps in the San Fernando Valley.

What should be the fate of St. Vibiana’s Cathedral?

Jorge Jackson, Sherman Oaks resident and a member of the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission:

Regarding the commission’s refusal to change the cathedral’s status, “it was a simple matter that [the commission] did not have that option. . . [However] “there are times when one has to stop and think about the best interests of the community. . . . I wonder if the present structure is servicing the community. . . . In my heart, I would like to see a master plan for the whole downtown area east of Main Street. The new cathedral could be a cornerstone for what needs to take place. . . . If the archdiocese decided to do so, [move to the Valley] I would support it. I don’t think it would be ideal. . . . Think about it. Many, many other major companies and other organizations have left Downtown and the archdiocese is making a commitment to downtown.”

Linda Dishman, executive director, Los Angeles Conservancy:

“We would love to see the building preserved. . . . It was built the same year the city celebrated a centennial . . . and [has] been the seat of the archdiocese for 120 years. A lot of religious and civic events have taken place in the church. It was the first major large building to be built in the city, really at a time it was the transition point from being a pueblo to being a city.”

Father Gregory Coiro, director of media relations for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles:

“If we are to build the new cathedral in the same site of the old cathedral . . . we very much want to memorialize the old cathedral . . . [But] The old cathedral is so extremely undermined by earthquakes there is no feasible way to save it. . . . Other than the fact that it is an old building, it has nothing significant historically or architecturally. . . . Our hope is [that a new building] will stand for 150, 200 years, so that a future archbishop will not have to tear down the remains of what was once a cathedral.”

Donald Nollar, volunteer with the Los Angeles Catholic Worker Community:

“We’re opposed to the archdiocese spending $50 million on a cathedral project anywhere. What we feel is that St. Vibiana’s should be returned to the downtown community as a parish church for skid row and the archdiocese should use an already existing church for their cathedral. . . . The community resources should be better used for the poor, rather than for building cathedrals. . . . [On a renovation as a step to revitalizing downtown] what that means is basically, again pushing the poor aside in order to promote a kind of redevelopment trying to attract business into downtown without looking at the real issues and the poverty that is going on downtown.”