A Reprieve, Perhaps, for St. Vibiana’s

The Los Angeles Conservancy’s announcement that it will fund a study of possible new uses for St. Vibiana’s Cathedral not only follows through on a conservancy pledge but offers the Civic Center’s ragged northeastern edge a bit of hope.

Last summer, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony announced the archdiocese plans to erect a new cathedral at the northwestern end of downtown, an important addition for the Civic Center. The cardinal wants to raze St. Vibiana’s, which is in need of earthquake damage repair, and sell the site.

The conservancy has long insisted that the 120-year-old structure has architectural value that transcends its use as a church. Now it is putting $25,000 of its own funds behind an effort to define those potential uses more precisely. The three-month study, headed by USC’s School of Architecture, is intended to explore not just specific uses for the building and surrounding parcels but how to link those new uses to the city’s historic core, including neighboring communities like Little Tokyo.

This need not be just a paper exercise; decaying churches here and in other cities have come back to life as performing arts centers and museums, for example. St. Vibiana’s--and its dreary surrounds--deserves this last chance for a reprieve.