Wayfarers Chapel may have a new site in Rancho Palos Verdes
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Wayfarers Chapel, the historic Rancho Palos Verdes sanctuary shuttered due to landslides, may have found more stable ground.
Chapel leaders say they have found a location about a mile west of the old site, where rapid land movement has threatened hundreds of homes. Afraid conditions would only worsen, leaders announced in May 2024 their plans to disassemble the chapel, a national historic landmark and popular wedding venue.
This week, the chapel announced on its website that it has found “an ideal new location” next to Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall on the old Battery Barnes military site. The chapel said it still needs to “secure” the site and raise the rebuilding funds.
Rancho Palos Verdes’ financial woes are mounting after losing a $16-million FEMA grant that was supposed to help with landslide stabilization.
Dan Burchett, the chapel’s executive director, previously said he expected the full rebuild to cost almost $20 million.
If leaders secure the money, the site will be rebuilt with a visitor’s center, a museum, a cafe and gardens, according to the website, and guests will be treated to the same sweeping ocean views.
The historic chapel had been battered by the recent landslides with shattered windows, warped metal framing and fresh cracks in the parking lot. Chapel leadership initially considered trying to rebuild it in the same location, but worsening landslides made that impossible. The prospective new site is not part of the city’s landslide zone.
The 100-seat glass-and-wood chapel was built in 1951 and designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright Jr., son of famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
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