Hayden Assails Riordan Over Cathedral Stance

Touting legislation he introduced last month to earmark $1 million in state funds to restore St. Vibiana’s Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles, state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) on Monday called on Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan to support the renovation effort.

Hayden, who is challenging Riordan in the April 8 election, criticized the mayor for backing the Catholic archdiocese’s plans to knock down the 121-year-old church.

“Los Angeles is a city that has too few memories,” Hayden said as he stood outside the boarded-up and earthquake-damaged bell tower. “This is one that should not be demolished by a wrecking ball.”

Blocked last year in its attempt to knock down St. Vibiana’s and replace it with a new cathedral complex, the archdiocese now plans to build a $50-million church and headquarters elsewhere downtown, and wants to sell its property at 2nd and Main streets. A USC architectural study released last week outlines a range of options for reusing the cathedral, from a Latino cultural center to a hotel banquet hall or an office building for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The Los Angeles Conservancy is looking for a buyer.

Riordan could not be reached for comment Monday. A campaign aide, Todd Harris, said the mayor has no preference for restoring the historic building or knocking it down, but does not think that public funds should be spent.

“It’s private property. Whatever [the archdiocese] chooses to do the mayor would support,” Harris said, adding that Riordan had no plans to review the USC exhibit highlighting what contributing architects believe are the restoration options.

Riordan’s campaign also released a statement from Assemblyman Louis Caldera (D-Los Angeles), who tangled with Hayden last year over St. Vibiana’s demolition. Caldera said Hayden’s new bill is too vague and would not provide enough money to save the earthquake-damaged and unsafe cathedral. Hayden pointed out that his bill would just provide matching funds to help a private investor.

“This bill looks a lot more like political grandstanding than serious legislation,” said Caldera, who has endorsed the mayor’s reelection bid.

“With all due respect,” Hayden said, “he’s acting more like a mouthpiece for the archdiocese than a serious legislator.”

Leaders of the Los Angeles Conservancy, which led the fight to block St. Vibiana’s demolition, said Hayden “almost single-handedly” saved St. Vibiana’s last year and welcomed the help offered in his new bill.

The USC study estimates that it would cost $2 million to $3 million to buy the land from the archdiocese, though Cardinal Roger M. Mahony has said he expects a higher price. The study projects costs of $5 million to $6 million to restore the cathedral, while the archdiocese has said repairs would cost $20 million.

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Hayden’s Natural Resources Committee held special hearings on St. Vibiana’s last year, and he helped kill legislation by Caldera and state Sen. Richard G. Polanco (D-Los Angeles) that would have exempted the archdiocese from state law requiring environmental review before a landmark like St. Vibiana’s is demolished. Mahony decided to build his cathedral elsewhere because of the delays caused by environmental review, which is now underway.

“When he had the opportunity last year to do something constructive for a blighted downtown neighborhood, [Hayden] did everything he could to stand in the way,” Caldera said in his statement.

Hayden said he wants to preserve St. Vibiana’s because it is a cultural monument that could be a catalyst for downtown revitalization as well as a bridge between ethnic neighborhoods such as Little Tokyo and the Latino Broadway area. He did not say which of the projects outlined by the USC study he would favor.

“The state has an interest in the preservation of downtown core areas,” he said. “I don’t think we should bulldoze and demolish our sacred sites.”