Downtown Hillside Site Selected for Cathedral

Now, it is an ugly, 1,100-space parking lot next to the Hollywood Freeway and a steam-belching heating plant. But in four years, the hillside property could be the home of a towering new flagship church for the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese, visible from East Los Angeles to Hollywood and including “a wonderfully landscaped plaza” for worshipers, downtown office workers and tourists.

The proposed transformation of the county-owned Lot 20 into the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels was announced Tuesday by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony as he formally began the task of acquiring the sloping 5.53-acre parcel across Temple Street from the county Hall of Administration. Church and county officials expressed confidence that the sale can be completed within six months and said architectural design work will begin immediately.

However, money remains at issue. The county is asking $10.85 million for the property, based on a recent appraisal. Archdiocese advisors contend that the land is worth $6 million to $7 million.

“There will be obstacles and hurdles along the way that we will have to jump over and around,” Mahony said at a press conference Tuesday at the chosen site. “But we do hope to make it work.”

County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Antonovich agreed, pledging “to make this dream come true.” He and Supervisor Gloria Molina, who first proposed the site, said the archdiocese would be treated like any other private bidder in an auction for surplus property--although no other bidder is anticipated.

Tuesday’s announcement is the latest step in the ongoing controversy over Mahony’s efforts to replace the 120-year-old St. Vibiana’s Cathedral, located downtown next to skid row.

While the new cathedral’s architect, Jose Rafael Moneo, reportedly rejected some other replacement sites last weekend as being too much in the shadow of Los Angeles City Hall, some urban planners wanted the church built closer to the Civic Center core.

“It sort of makes me sad actually,” said Lauren Melendrez, the landscape architect who recently led a study about improving the Civic Center. “It takes the cathedral to an area that is not very accessible to pedestrians.”

Melendrez said, however, that the new site was much less isolated than another possible church location, the former Union Oil headquarters just west of the Harbor Freeway.

The cardinal stressed that the county lot’s 30-foot rise in elevation from Hill Street to Grand Avenue and its unusually large size are major enticements and will influence design of the new $50-million headquarters of the nation’s most populous archdiocese. The slope provides dramatic visibility and allows for parking underneath a large plaza, meeting halls and a rectory building.

Mahony also pointed out that the lot is half a block from a Red Line subway station and a five-minute walk from City Hall, and has easy freeway access.

The possible speed of acquisition and construction also made Lot 20 more desirable than five other downtown sites the archdiocese investigated, Mahony and his consultants explained.

The county is the sole owner of the entire block, thus simplifying negotiations. And the county has reacted to archdiocese interest more quickly than the California Department of Transportation has regarding a parking lot the state agency owns near City Hall.

What’s more, no demolition would be required on the county lot, except for some wooden shacks. Gesturing toward them Tuesday, Mahony joked: “I hope those parking kiosks are not historical structures.”

A soil study will be required because the land contains old fill from the freeway construction.

Since June, the archdiocese has lost a series of court battles with preservationists over its original plan to demolish the current cathedral at 2nd and Main streets and build a replacement there. After abandoning that plan in July and putting the quake-damaged property up for sale, Mahony said he wants no more delays toward his goal of dedicating a new cathedral on the feast day--Sept. 4--of Our Lady of the Angels in 2000.

Mahony on Tuesday reiterated his intent to sell the historic St. Vibiana’s to anyone who wants to restore it for a dignified purpose such as a museum. He added that he will demolish it if no decent offer materializes.

So far, Mahony said, the only offer has come from a man he refused to identify who reportedly mailed him a $100 check. The cardinal, while not specifying a price, said that offer was several million dollars short and returned the check.

Critics have complained that Mahony has used threats about leaving downtown in order to get his way. On Tuesday, Mahony warned that if problems arise on the county land, the project would move to the site of the former Pater Noster High School, now leased by the Ribet Academy, near the Glendale Freeway in the Glassell Park neighborhood, or to the north at the San Fernando Mission complex. The archdiocese owns both sites.

“We will not consider any further downtown locations,” Mahony said.

While it is diagonally across the street from the Music Center, the new location has some less glamorous neighbors. Church planners predict that the unsightly stacks of a Hill Street energy plant can be disguised or replaced and that freeway noise can be blocked.

Moneo, a Spanish architect, is expected to produce preliminary sketches by November. Reached by telephone in Madrid, an assistant to Moneo said the architect was traveling Tuesday to Stockholm for design work on a museum and could not be reached for comment.

Some sources close to the situation said the archdiocese would need to raise more money to complete the project. Church leaders insist they will obtain the needed donations.

The sale of county land usually takes 4 1/2 to six months, according to Les Detweiler, a management analyst for the county. The land first must be offered to other government agencies for such possible uses as low-income housing, parks and enterprise business zones. Detweiler said he has heard of no entity but the archdiocese showing interest.

Then the Board of Supervisors must set a minimum price and advertise for wider public bids.

CB Commercial Real Estate recently appraised the lot at $10.85 million, county officials said. Detweiler stressed that the county, which hired CB, has no reason to question the figure. But he added that “reasonable people can always disagree, and if incorrect assumptions were used in one way or another, that will be the basis for discussions.”

Such talks will begin soon, said architect Christopher C. Martin, a downtown activist who helped advise the archdiocese on site selection. He predicted that a separate appraisal will establish a fair price of $6 million to $7 million. “That’s what I think it’s worth based on the fact that it is a parking lot with no other future,” Martin said.

About 900 of the 1,100 parking spaces are used by county workers, and the parking operation generates about $25,000 a month for the county, according to Gerry Hertzberg, chief legislative deputy to Supervisor Molina. The parking can be replaced at nearby lots and by the lightly used garage built to eventually serve Disney Concert Hall, he said.

Linda Dishman, executive of the Los Angeles Conservancy, which has battled against demolishing St. Vibiana’s, said she was pleased that the new cathedral is planned for downtown and that there may still be time to save the old one for a nonreligious use. “There is a great opportunity to do something wonderful,” she said, adding that “it would not happen overnight.”

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Future Landmark

After months of debate over a site for a new flagship church, the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese has chosen a sloping property in front of the county Hall of Administration. The site, above, is now a parking lot.

* Size of tract: 5.53 acres

* Church name: Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

* Architect: Jose Rafael Moneo of Spain

* Land cost: County seeks $10.85 million; church believes it is worth about $6 million.

* Dedication: Sept. 4, 2000