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Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- General
- Los Angeles Times
This national landmark had to move because of a landslide. Inside what's next for Wayfarers chapel
A year ago, one of the Los Angeles region's most beloved buildings was busy being dismantled, stone by stone, beam by beam. The Wayfarers Chapel, also informally known as the 'tree chapel' or 'glass church,' had since 1951 stood serenely on a lightly forested bluff in Rancho Palos Verdes, overlooking the waters of Abalone Cove. Designed for the nature-loving Swedenborgian Church by Lloyd Wright, the talented son of Frank Lloyd Wright, the building seemed to disappear into the redwood grove that surrounded it, thanks to its glass walls and ceiling, craggy Palos Verdes stone walls and laminated timber frame, which formed circles and squares symbolizing, among other things, the primal elements, the oneness of God and the unity of all life. No wonder it was the chosen site for 800 weddings a year. But the eerily shifting lands of the Portuguese Bend landslide — which also prompted the 2024 evacuation and loss of dozens of homes in the area — presented an existential threat to the chapel, and last May the church made the painful decision to take down what had just months before been named a national historic landmark, put its parts in storage and try to find a new home. 'We had no idea if we'd be rebuilding in one year or five,' said Katie Horak, a principal at the Los Angeles office of Architectural Resources Group, or ARG, which, with Gardena-based K.C. Restoration, led the dismantling. 'We just knew we had to save what we could.' Now a new site has been identified, although not yet secured. Over the weekend, Wayfarers Chapel's website began showcasing renderings, produced by ARG and landscape architects Agency Artifact. They showed the chapel, perched on an ocean-hugging hilltop a little more than a mile from its original location. The 4.9-acre parcel, which also houses a World War II-era bunker, is a former military installation called Battery Barnes, owned by the U.S. Coast Guard. It's a few hundred feet southwest of Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall. Rancho Palos Verdes City Manager Ara Mihranian confirmed that the city, which owns most of the land encircling the potential chapel site, was strongly supportive of Wayfarers moving to the proposed location. 'Wayfarers is one of our iconic symbols. It's been here longer than the city was incorporated. It's part of our landscape, our cultural DNA,' he said. Mihranian confirmed that the Coast Guard had begun the process of divesting the land to the city, which would then lease or sell it to the church. (Mihranian said the city would prefer to lease the land, but the church has said it would prefer to buy it, or swap it for its previous site.) The divestiture process could take a year or two, maybe more, said Mihranian, who noted that the chapel and the city recently submitted a letter to U.S. Congressman Ted Lieu, whose 36th District includes the site, to help expedite the process. 'It's not a done deal yet,' added Robert Carr, Wayfarers Chapel's administrative director. 'But we're closer than we've ever been. There's goodwill all around. We just have to make it happen.' Carr added that the site, abutting the Alta Vicente nature preserve, would be an ideal fit for the church. Geological surveys show no shifting land underneath, and in many ways it's similar to the original location. 'It's a high hilltop with a steep slope that has views a quarter mile away of the cliffs and the points and the bays,' Carr said. Horak added that it also works well from a preservation standpoint: 'It's close to the original location, shares the same coastal breeze, orientation and microclimate. That's critical for the sensitive materials we salvaged. The light, the view, even the way the wind moves across the hill — it's as if it was meant to be.' Carr said rebuilding would likely take place in stages, starting with the chapel, followed by a new bell tower, meeting hall (lost to a landslide in the 1980s), stone colonnade and facilities like a café and museum, which could be installed inside the site's former bunker, Carr said. The city and chapel have discussed a community hall that could be used for city events during the week and wedding receptions on the weekend. Fundraising, Carr said, has just started, but the chapel hopes to raise around $10 million by summer 2026 for the chapel. The group eventually wants to raise about $30 million for the entire project. Both figures, he said, could change as a design emerges. ARG and Agency Artifact created schematic designs for the chapel in its new location; the project's final design team has not been chosen. Putting the chapel back together in a way that preserves its integrity, Horak said, will be no easy task, no matter who works on it. Her team was able to save many of the building's component parts, like the wood building frame, steel window frames, stone walls and many of the roof tiles. It was also able to take a digital scan of the original building. But the glass will have to be new, as will the bell tower, which couldn't be saved (although its bells were). The chapel will need new seismic strengthening, and trees and landscaping will need to be planted along its periphery. But compared to what Horak described as the 'adrenaline-fueled' disassembly, which couldn't employ cranes or scaffolding due to the shifting earth, the process will be less stressful. 'At least we can use heavy equipment,' she said with a laugh. A museum at the new site could showcase, among many other things, Lloyd Wright's work on the chapel, Carr said. That would be a triumph for the architect, who designed important buildings in Los Angeles but never gained the recognition many think he deserved. One case in point: His astounding, X-shaped Moore House in nearby Palos Verdes Estates was unceremoniously demolished by its owners in 2012. 'Very few people can actually point to his work,' said Adrian Scott Fine, president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Conservancy. As for the chapel's design, he said: 'There's nothing else like it. This is a place that people would go to almost like a pilgrimage.' Rev. James Lawrence, president of the Swedenborgian Church of North America, added that the crystalline Wayfarers had become the church's most prominent symbol. Several cities around the country, he said, had offered to house the reconstruction. 'We had a national cathedral in Washington, but Wayfarers became the national cathedral psychologically. There's something aesthetic and symbolic and powerful about the chapel that has made it such a well-known place around the planet.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Wayfarers Chapel to rebuild at new location in Rancho Palos Verdes
The Brief Wayfarers Chapel plans to be built at a new location just one mile west. The new location will sit on the Battery Barnes military site. The chapel closed in February 2024 due to accelerated land movement. LOS ANGELES - LA's iconic Wayfarers Chapel, located in Rancho Palos Verdes, might be rebuilt at a completely new location. The backstory The chapel closed in February 2024 due to 'accelerated land movement.' Large cracks were present on the foundation throughout the chapel, making it unstable. The74-year-old chapel wascompletely disassembled by July 2024. What we know As they look forward to rebuilding, organizers said the existing location is no longer ideal. According to Wayfarers Chapel's website, they plan to rebuild the new chapel only one mile west of the current location. The new location will sit on the Battery Barnes military site. On their website, they released four artistic renderings that show the chapel on the new Battery Barnes site, on the Alta Vicente hilltop above Point Vicente Lighthouse and the Golden Cove shopping center. What they're saying "With the original Chapel carefully disassembled and stored, we are now ready to rebuild the Chapel as soon as we can secure the prospective new site and raise rebuilding funds. Following the closure of the chapel in February 2024 and with disassembly completed in July 2024, we have determined that rebuilding on the previous (heritage) site is not possible for the future of Wayfarers Chapel. The new proposed location sits adjacent to Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall on the Battery Barnes military site," their website read. It's unclear when construction will start or when the new chapel will reopen. The Instagramable glass chapel is a popular wedding venue in LA. The 100-seat, glass chapel opened in 1951 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2023. The famed Mid-century Modern structure with glass walls was designed by Lloyd Wright, the son of Frank Lloyd Wright. The Source Information for this story came from the Wayfarers Chapel website.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wayfarers Chapel may have new home at unused military site
Southern California's iconic glass chapel may have found a new home in Rancho Palos Verdes. The famed Wayfarers Chapel was closed indefinitely last year due to unprecedented shifting of the ground below it. The church's leadership team made the decision to disassemble the beloved California landmark and wedding venue and reassemble it in another location. This week, church officials announced that they may have found the chapel's new grounds. According to the church's website, a new proposed location has been identified at Battery Barnes, a former munitions storage facility for the U.S. Coast Guard, adjacent to Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall. The four-acre property overlooking the Pacific Ocean was utilized during World War II and remains under Coast Guard jurisdiction. But city officials say the property has been unused for several years and the only structure on the land is vacant. The glass chapel, which was designated a Historic National Landmark in 2023, could be rebuilt on the hilltop above Point Vicente Lighthouse, a still active navigational landmark that is also the property of the Coast Guard. While the site has been tabbed as the future home to Wayfarers Chapel, and renderings have been made to show what the new campus may look like, church officials still need to procure the space and raise enough funds to reassemble the church and rebuild the surrounding infrastructure. The popular wedding chapel, which was designed by famed architect Lloyd Wright (son of Frank Lloyd Wright) in the 1940s, previously stood among a crowd of trees that overlooked Abalone Cove, an area of the California coast that has experienced an ongoing, slow-moving 'geologic hazard.' Its campus in Rancho Palos Verdes had survived landslides and erosion for years, but those conditions have worsened since 2024, with homes swallowed by shifting hillsides and once-straight roads turned into winding, sloping slaloms. The chapel has hosted thousands of weddings, including celebrity nuptials, since it opened in 1951. It was closed to the public in February 2024, in hopes that the shifting of land would eventually slow down. But the ground continued to move as much as seven inches per week, officials said at the time. The chapel was fully disassembled in July 2024, and carefully placed into dedicated storage space. Dan Burchett, the chapel's executive director, said last year that rebuild efforts could cost as much as $20 million. It's unclear if those estimates have changed in 2025. If the church is able to secure the site and rebuild at the old military property, the new campus would feature a museum, a visitor's center and 'tranquil gardens,' the church website says. 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. For additional information about the proposed site, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Sun
21-04-2025
- Business
- The Sun
One of UK's biggest music chains suddenly collapses into administration with staff left ‘hung out to dry'
ONE of the UK's biggest music chains has suddenly collapsed into administration - as employees say they've been "hung out to dry". The leading musical instrument shop filed for insolvency on April 15 after swirling rumours among staff about the future of the business. 1 Gak Music Emporium in Brighton shut up shop on March 25 after its stock and website were reportedly bought by an online retailer for £2.4million. Eagle-eyed customers noticed the site was down earlier this month, with a message saying it was "currently unavailable". Online shoppers are now being redirected to Gear4music, a musical instruments and equipment retailer. The firm has reportedly purchased over a million pounds worth of stock together with assets including websites and trademarks. According to Connor, a musical technician at the store, employees were left in the dark for weeks leading up to being let go. He said staff had been "hung out to dry" with many made redundant on April 7. He told the Argus: 'We were hung out to dry. On Friday [March 28], they emailed saying 'still no investors, but we'll update you on Monday'. 'On Monday we were told there were still no investors. We were told we were employed all this time, so it was very confusing for staff.' The musical buff said he's resorted to posting flyers on the closed shop front advertising his services in a bid to secure some work. A spokeswoman for Gear4music said: "The company has entered insolvency and appointed an insolvency practitioner. "Its assets, including stock, branding, and websites, have been sold to "The original company, however, still legally exists and remains responsible for its liabilities, but may not have funds to meet them." This comes just weeks after an iconic music shop that had been in business for almost 50 years was forced to close. The family-owned store, which started as an organ shop, had been plagued by long-term parking issues. Intasound first launched on Narborough Road, Leicester, in 1976 and was the town's last remaining independent music store. Lloyd Wright and his brother Alex took over the business after their dad, Malcolm, retired. But the brothers say the lack of parking had been a huge issue and was impacting sales. Lloyd told Leicestershire Live said: "Regular feedback is about parking not being available, if you're buying a large piece and having to park three roads down, it's just not practical.' Why are retailers closing shops? EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre's decline. The Sun's business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors. In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping. Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April 2025, will cost the retail sector £2.3billion. At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed. The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing. Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns. Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead. In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko to name a few. What's increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online. They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
