New Cathedral Estimate Elicits an I-Told-You-So

A member of the Catholic Worker social service group, which has opposed the planned construction of a new cathedral for the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese, said Thursday he had predicted “all along that this was going to cost $150 million to $200 million.”

“I feel vindicated,” said Jeff Dietrich, taking a break from the group’s skid row soup kitchen, to react to the announcement Wednesday by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony that construction costs alone for the five-acre complex would tally $102 million.

The new figure is more than double the amount that had been widely cited to describe cathedral construction costs.

“Common sense would say that a project of this size, with an internationally known architect, isn’t going to cost $50 million,” Dietrich said. He and other members of the group say the money being spent on the cathedral complex, to be built at Temple and Grand streets, could be better used to aid the poor.

Mahony took exception to the complaint, noting the millions being spent or proposed for venues such as the new Getty Center and a sports arena.

“Nobody seems to have any concerns” about the way those funds are spent, he said. “But when you build a church, everybody gets upset. . . . I’m puzzled by the lack of consistency.”

Mahony said grant agreements for the larger donations to the project specify that the money must be used for that purpose.

Dietrich also charged that the drive to raise money for the project will eventually hurt individual parishes as the capital campaign taps out donors who otherwise would support parish projects.

Mahony has said fund-raising for the project is continuing, adding that the total cost remains unknown.

Clarifying a point he made Wednesday, Mahony noted that fees for architects in a project such as the cathedral would typically fall in the 4% to 6% range. But he said the archdiocese does not yet have a firm figure for the architects’ fees for this project.

Also Thursday, Superior Court Judge Robert O’Brien declined to issue a temporary restraining order sought by a Native American group that says it has wrongly been excluded from having an integral role in the construction project.

The immediate dispute, part of a larger lawsuit that seeks to stop the project, centers on the role of Vera Rocha, who says she is the hereditary chief of the Gabrielino band of Shosone Indians.

Craig Sherman, who represents Rocha, contends that a Los Angeles City Council resolution approved Nov. 19, 1997, assured Rocha a role on a committee charged with looking out for the interests of Native Americans.

Some Native Americans have expressed concerns that the planned site for the new cathedral may include an ancient Native American burial ground.

Attorneys for the city, the archdiocese and the Community Redevelopment Agency say the resolution authorizes a representative to be part of the archeological and excavation “process,” but not part of the committee.

Both sides will return to court March 19 for a hearing on the request for a preliminary injunction.