GOOD OLD DAYS:

History has been revisited at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Newport Beach.

A mosaic installed when the church was built at 801 Dover Drive in the early 1960s has been restored to its original splendor.

Artist Wallace Lock Parker, who taught at Newport-Mesa high schools, built the mosaic, which faces Dover Drive and has since become a prominent feature in the neighborhood.

Parker based the mural on the story of Lehi’s dream, from 1 Nephi 8 in the Book of Mormon.

In the story, Lehi dreamed of the tree of life, which grows delicious fruit and from which a fountain of pure water flows.

Parker originally asked adults from the church to help construct the mosaic, as many of the members had built the church themselves.

When many of the church members declined, youth and children worked on the piece, including Parker’s students.

Over the next four decades, the mural was damaged by landscaping planted nearby, but its initial brilliance was still apparent in the vivid, double-glazed tiles.

“It was an act of love, to take something so beautiful and restore it,” artist Susan Abass said.

Susan and her son Patrick Abass of Artistic Design Tile & Stone began the renovation process by placing plastic adhesive film over the mural to prevent it from disintegrating. They originally planned to renovate just the damaged portion of the mural.

“As we starting taking it down, we saw the entire thing was loose,” Susan Abass said.

They ended up taking down the entire right side of the mosaic; what was estimated as a five-day job took two weeks.

Susan donated her time; Patrick was compensated by the church, which also covered materials costs.

“Without him, it could never have been successful,” she said. “He’s worked with me since he was a little boy.”

They have worked on murals as far away as Japan, as well as for Wolfgang Puck restaurants and other businesses.

The mural is a well-known element of the neighborhood; the church’s plot was one of the first property purchases allowed by the Irvine Company.

It used to be the only Mormon church in the area, but the region has since diversified, and is now served by several facilities.

Church member Joan Conk, whose father was the church’s early bishop, recalled that the congregation used to meet at the woman’s club, followed by a house on Superior and a building at the fairgrounds.

After ground was broken, the men would come build the church after work, and the women brought dinner.

“It was very family-oriented, I thought,” Conk said. “A simpler time.”

For more information on the renovation or the church, call (949) 548-9651.

CANDICE BAKER can be reached at (949) 494-5480 or at candice.baker@latimes.com.