Group Wants to Restore Courthouse’s 3-Story Cupola

Richard Rengel walks between the stately columns, beyond the red sandstone facade and into the turn-of-the-century interior of the Old County Courthouse, which he has helped restore.

It’s all perfectly lovely, but he’s obsessed with what is still missing.

For 18 years, the Tustin architect and a group of history buffs have set their sights on recrowning one of Orange County’s oldest and most recognizable buildings with a three-story, castle-like structure--a gothic, 63-foot cupola that was removed after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake.

“It’s like the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle,” Rengel said. “It’s been frustrating.”

First, a search of county records and newspaper clippings indicated that the structure had been dismantled, but no one knew where the pieces were. They talked to old-timers who recalled that some parts of the wood-and-metal tower were left at a local dump.

Their research even introduced them to conspiracy theories about how the city fathers might have removed the structure not because of earthquake fears but because they considered it ugly and too “old world.”

Now, Rengel and other historians want to build a replica of the cupola that would be dedicated on the 100th anniversary of the courthouse, in 2001.

Their work has generated new interest in the missing relic and its colorful history. The cupola, modeled after the imposing spire at Trinity Church in Boston, was designed to hold clock faces on each of its four sides.

But county supervisors at the time balked at the $1,200 price tag, saying the clocks were a “luxury this county cannot afford.” So the structure had holes where the clock’s dials were supposed to go.

Some historians and old-timers aren’t convinced that the cupola should be brought back. The Orange County Historical Commission told Rengel last week that it probably won’t help finance the $500,000-to-$1-million project, saying it had better things on which to spend money.

Backers still hope to raise the funds from private donations. But even some supporters have expressed mixed feelings about the project.

“It wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty,” said Lecil Slaback, 85, who worked as a court reporter at the courthouse for 36 years. His father, Lester, held the same job for 53 years, beginning in 1904.

“It was much more ornate than the rest of the courthouse. I like it better the way it is,” Slaback said. “But the cupola is part of the history of the courthouse, and that’s important. I am kind of torn.”

Rengel, a principal with Rengel & Co. Architects in Tustin, got involved with the courthouse in the early 1980s when the county began a major restoration and earthquake-reinforcement effort.

He was one of the architects hired to help with the renovation. Preservationists originally hoped to locate and reinstall the original tower.

But after interviewing Slaback and others, they determined that it had been removed piece by piece after the ’33 earthquake.

The quake damaged part of the courthouse but left the cupola largely intact, Rengel said. Newspaper accounts suggest that county leaders removed the tower out of fear that it might topple with another major temblor.

But Rengel and others wonder whether the cupola’s stark appearance may have contributed to its demise. “It really is out of place and really overly gothic,” Rengel said. “There’s been some debate about why they took it down. As far as I’m concerned, it didn’t need to be removed from a safety perspective.”

The county decided not to bring back the cupola during the restoration. But Rengel remained interested in the idea. So when the Old Courthouse Museum Society began considering a new cupola to coincide with the centennial, he had his blueprints and dusty reports at the ready.

If they can raise the money, backers plan to first rebuild the tower’s steel frame. But instead of a wooden facade, Rengel wants to employ reinforced plaster similar to the type used to build attractions at Disneyland. Backers have met with officials from the theme park to learn about the latest building techniques.

“With plaster, it will be lighter and the maintenance will be much less,” Rengel said.

The society is now trying to raise $4,000 for a feasibility study.

“We go up against the argument that this is not a necessity,” said Bruce Sinclair, president of the society. “Whether you like the design or not, it’s part of the original courthouse. That fact can’t be denied.”

For years, the cupola made the courthouse the tallest building in Orange County. Slaback said newlyweds occasionally would walk up to the top of the tower after their wedding and take in the view.

“It was something they did to remember their wedding day,” he said. “You could see the whole city from up there.”

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Going to the Top?

Preservationists are working to build a replica of the massive Gothic cupola removed from the top of the Old County Courthouse in Santa Ana after the 1933 earthquake. Features included:

Height of 63 feet, making the entire courthouse 135 feet--for years the tallest building in Orange County

Circles in the tower were supposed to hold clocks, but the Board of Supervisors refused to pay $1,200 for clocks, and the circles remained empty

Metal-and-wood foundation with a hammersheet-metal facade painted to match the red sandstone

Newlyweds enjoyed the view from the observation platform after being married at the courthouse

Sources: Orange County Historical Commission, Times reports; Researched by SHELBY GRAD/Los Angeles Times