By Deepa Bharath and Andrew Galvin
Orange County Register
July 23, 2011
http://www.ocregister.com/news/cathedral-309365-diocese-church.html
GARDEN GROVE – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County has made a $50 million cash offer for the 35-acre property that houses the iconic Crystal Cathedral and all its core buildings, officials said Friday.
The Catholic Church announced earlier this month that it is interested in buying the financially ailing Crystal Cathedral, which was founded by Robert H. Schuller, a minister from Iowa who began preaching atop a snack shack in the Orange drive-in 55 years ago.
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| The Bishop of Orange, The Most Reverend Tod D. Brown gives his comments during Santa Margarita Catholic High School's graduation exercise at UCI's Bren Center in June 2010. The Catholic Diocese of Orange is making a $50-million cash offer to buy the financially struggling Crystal Cathedral. |
The Catholic Church, which needs a newer, bigger sanctuary to accommodate more than 1.2 million members in Orange County, views the Crystal Cathedral as a blank canvas they can modify to suit their specific requirements. Buying the property also means that the Catholic Church would not have to undertake the construction of a large cathedral on property it owns in Santa Ana.
Alan H. Martin, a bankruptcy attorney representing the diocese, said the diocese will pay $50 million in cash within 30 days of the bankruptcy court's approval of the reorganization plan. But first, the plan has to be approved by the Crystal Cathedral Ministries Board and the Creditors Committee.
Marc Winthrop, an attorney who represents the Crystal Cathedral in its bankruptcy case, could not be reached for comment Friday. But, he said earlier this month that the board is evaluating several proposals and is likely to make a decision soon. The next court hearing on this matter has been scheduled for Aug. 1.
The offer from the diocese calls for an immediate deposit of $250,000 and a secondary payment of $750,000. Martin said the diocese is willing to help Crystal Cathedral Ministries phase out its operations by offering a three-year leaseback plan for some of the buildings on campus including the four-story Family Life Center on Chapman Avenue.
Martin added that the diocese is also ready to offer Crystal Cathedral Ministries an alternative worship space at 90 percent of the fair market value for 15 years. They could also choose to buy the same property at 90 percent of the fair market value within five years if they choose to do so, Martin said.
"Our goal is to make this a smooth and peaceful transition for them while remaining sensitive to their needs," he said.
The cathedral has so far received $46 million offers with leaseback and buyback agreements from Newport Beach developer Greenlaw Partners Inc. and Chapman University. My Father's House Church International of Norco also made an announcement regarding a $50-million offer to buy the Crystal Cathedral. But no details about that offer have been released.
Tim Busch, lay development adviser to Bishop Tod Brown, said the Crystal Cathedral property is perfect in more than one way for the Catholic Church.
"It's central to the county, is at a major intersection and is freeway accessible," he said. "The facility is simply world-class in terms of architectural design."
The sanctuary seats 3,000 people and its surrounding buildings could house all of the diocese's administrative staff, school and retreat center, Busch said. The diocese's biggest church, St. Columban in Garden Grove, can only seat 1,500 people.
"We have more than 1 million Catholics in Orange County and we need a facility for our liturgies – Easter, Christmas, for ordination of priests or installation of a bishop or even a place to have a funeral," he said.
The Crystal Cathedral, which has been struggling financially for the last four years, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Oct. 18. Several church members also launched a petition drive this month to get the Reformed Church in America to intervene.
Martin said the creditors would be paid in full on the effective date, which would most likely be 30 days after the court approves their plan.
The Catholic Church would also assume ownership of the Memorial Gardens immediately after the purchase, Martin said.
"We will assume responsibility for all contracts, honor them and continue to utilize the cemetery," he said. "The diocese has extensive experience maintaining cemeteries and will continue to maintain the Memorial Gardens in a proper, respectful state."
If the diocese purchases the Crystal Cathedral, several smaller changes would be required inside the sanctuary to make the space conducive to a Catholic worship format, said Monsignor Arthur A Holquin, liturgical consultant to the diocese and pastor of the Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano.
"Sacramental worship is central to the life of the Roman Catholic Church," he said. "We have to change the space so it can accommodate celebration of mass daily."
There are several other elements that would have to be added, including a Bishop's chair or a "cathedra," a pulpit, a tabernacle to house the sacrament and a baptismal font where baptisms are performed, Holquin said. A Catholic sanctuary would also have a cross with the body of Christ on it and a shrine for the Virgin Mary. This church would likely have a shrine to the Lady of Guadalupe, Holquin said.
These changes could be made without any major disruptions, he said.
"We're dealing with an open palette, which with relative ease can be transformed into a place of Roman Catholic worship," Holquin said. "Obviously, we are not looking to transform this into an old-fashioned Gothic church. I'm sure our architectural consultant will respect the integrity of this beautiful Phillip Johnson building."
The Diocese of Orange owns a parcel of land in Santa Ana where it has planned to build a cathedral. The nine-acre site is at 2001 W. MacArthur Blvd., next to Segerstrom High School.
County property tax records show the land has an assessed value of $19.3 million, although no tax is due because of its religious ownership.
In 2002, Santa Ana approved a framework for a cathedral campus, including a 2,650-seat cathedral and ancillary buildings totaling about 100,000 square feet, said Jay Trevino, executive director of the city's planning and building agency.
"We understand that plans for the cathedral and related buildings are being prepared by the diocese's architect, but they have not been submitted for city review as yet," Trevino said.
Two temporary buildings on the site are home to the diocese's Christ Our Savior parish. The six-year-old parish has about 900 registered families, said Viviana Ortega, parish secretary.
Whether or not a cathedral is built on the Santa Ana site, the parish will remain, because there is a demonstrated need for a Catholic church in that part of Santa Ana, Ortega said.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7909 or dbharath@ocregister.com
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