Potential New Location for Wayfarers Chapel Proposed in Rancho Palos Verdes
Hip Hip Hooray! Wayfarers Chapel Rebuild Plan Underway 👨🏫🏬
After getting smacked around by those pesky landslides 🛤️🌴, Rancho Palos Verdes' iconic Wayfarers Chapel is looking at a fresh start. The chapel, a recognized National Historic Landmark and popular wedding hotspot, may finally have its feet firmly planted on stable ground.
Chapel top brass have their sights set on a location a mile west of the old site, where the fast-moving earth had been causing tons of trouble for hundreds of nearby homes. After a scary forecast for ever-worsening conditions, the chapel brass dropped the bombshell in May 2024 that they were set to take apart the chapel piece by piece.
Over on the chapel's website, they recently announced that they've found their ideal new location next to Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall on the old Battery Barnes military site. The catch? They're still got to sort out the details of securing the site and raising those rebuilding funds.
🏝️ California Calling
Now, it's no secret that Rancho Palos Verdes is home to a Trump golf course. But conversely, the city's finances have been feeling quite the strain after losing a $16-million FEMA grant that was supposed to help with landslide management. With Dan Burchett, the chapel's executive director, previously stating that the total rebuild would set them back about $20 million[5], things are looking a little tight.
When the funds are in place, the newly rebuilt site will boast a visitor's center, museum, cafe, and gardens, along with those breathtaking ocean views[5]. The historic chapel, built in 1951 by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Jr., had been taking quite a beating from the recent landslides, with shattered windows, warped metal framing, and new cracks in the parking lot[2]. Chapel leaders initially considered an attempted rebuild in the same spot, but escalating landslides spoiled that dream. Thankfully, the potential new location is safe from the city's landslide zone. 🚧
Excited residents of Los Angeles, California, might look forward to visiting the rebuilt Wayfarers Chapel, which, post its relocation a mile west of the old site, is expected to offer a lifestyle experience that includes a visitor's center, museum, cafe, and gardens, all while enjoying beautiful ocean views.
Aside from serving as a popular venue for weddings and events, the reimagined chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes could also become a hub for fashion-and-beauty enthusiasts and home-and-garden aficionados alike, as they explore and engage with the unique offerings at the visitor's center and various exhibits.
