Mission School Buried in Dispute Over Excavation

Only days before construction is slated to begin on a new school at the historic San Buenaventura Mission, the archeologists excavating the historic site have stopped work, saying the mission’s pastor is not allowing them to do their job in a professional manner.

In his eagerness to build the school quickly and spend as little money as possible, the archeologists say, Msgr. Patrick O’Brien is pressuring them to do a shabby job.

“He doesn’t understand archeology,” said Nina Serman, a member of the dig team. “He tried to do this as quickly as he could. As cheaply as he could. We did what he wanted . . . until we couldn’t go any faster. If we went any faster, it would have been a violation of our professional archeological codes.”

O’Brien says the church is abiding by the law, but enough time and money have been spent already.

“The matter has cost a bundle of money,” O’Brien said, estimating that the church has spent more than $100,000 on archeology so far. “They’ve been here two months. That’s a long time. It’s time to lock it up.”

He added: “We have every intention of properly [taking care of] the site.”

City officials will decide whether work can go forward, after talking to both parties today.

The mission has undertaken a $5.5-million expansion of the aging Holy Cross school, part of which will sit atop the foundations of the quarters and shops of the ancient mission--a nationally registered historic site.

By law, a Native American consultant must be present and archeologists must be on hand to investigate before construction can begin.

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In this case, nine archeologists were hired to excavate the spots where the concrete columns supporting the school will plunge 50 feet into the artifact-rich soil. They are charged not only with lessening the impact on the cultural resources on the property and saving valuable artifacts, but also with documenting and reporting what they find.

Over the last two months they have dug through the layers, extracting Chumash artifacts from the hard-packed clay and noting their discoveries.

There have been some incredible finds, they say.

They have unearthed a Chumash leather shoe, ancient shell and glass beads, the tile floors of the rear compound, ancient smoking pipes and an old well.

“I would describe this as one of the most important sites in the country,” said Dr. Gary Stickle, the director of the dig. Stickle runs the Los Angeles-based archeology firm that is handling the dig.

Stickle and his associates say they want additional time to do a more thorough job and more money to better analyze the bones, tiles and other artifacts his team has dug up.

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O’Brien wants to get his school built.

Representatives from both parties met with Tom Figg, the city’s planning and redevelopment manager, on Thursday to discuss what can be done.

“There is a difference of opinion about what the archeologists think is required and what the architects think is required,” Figg said. “There are some misunderstandings about the extent of excavation required to build the school.”

Figg points out that several detailed studies have been done on the site. In order to minimize the cuts into the soil that could harm the site, the city required the architects to use beams and supporting columns, rather than a large foundation.

Redstar, the Native American consultant on the project, says that 70% of the site will be preserved under the school and that many of the artifacts will be on display.

He is fascinated by the artifacts he has seen come out of the site.

“We are actually seeing history reveal itself again,” he said. “We are seeing the pages of books that will never be seen by anyone else.”

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But he says there are Native Americans who would rather see all traces of their subjugation to the Catholic priests at the missions buried and forgotten.

“If you know the history of the Chumash in California, you know that the missions were considered like concentration camps. . . . There are those who would say destroy it.”

Mayor Jack Tingstrom, who is Catholic, says he, too, can see both perspectives.

“It’s important to both, but the monsignor is working on a limited budget,” Tingstrom said. “If the monsignor can get money from the archdiocese, so be it. But I don’t think that’s totally his decision.”

Figg says meetings will continue. He does not know what the city will decide to do.

“The city has a responsibility to ensure that the oversight of the construction activities [does] not jeopardize cultural resources,” Figg said. “We act in effect as a referee, judge and jury in the matter. But we can’t do that until we get our facts squared away.”

In the meantime, O’Brien said the school groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for Wednesday will proceed as planned.

“We are paying our bills,” he said. “We want to get on with the job.”