Church Retrofitting Nears Completion

A $2.5-million renovation of Santa Clara Church is almost complete, church officials said Tuesday.

Workers were putting the finishing touches on a new roof as part of an extensive retrofitting project. Construction crews also have been working since July 1999 reinforcing the back wall.

The parish, an Oxnard landmark built in 1884, serves 3,300 families, said Msgr. Peter Nugent.

The church has weathered considerable earthquake damage over the years, the reason for the renovation project, said Georgene Boyd, a church consultant.

A 1957 earthquake reduced the church’s 125-foot tower to 108 feet. The church, however, survived the 1994 Northridge earthquake with only minor damage.

“But we were put on notice that we would have been required to shut down the church unless we brought it up to standard,” Boyd said.

Nugent said the work should be completed in two or three weeks.