Without some serious retrofitting, one of California’s most iconic historical landmarks is at risk of crumbling to its foundation if shaken hard by a serious temblor.

Administrators for the 200-year-old Old Mission San Luis Rey de Francia have for years been working on a plan to stabilize the ornate, historic church building in time to meet a state-required 2015 deadline for earthquake retrofitting. But raising the $3.1 million needed for the work has been no easy task during the Great Recession.

"Sometimes people say, ‘Ah, the church has been here 213 years, why do you need to do this now?’" said Executive Director and Franciscan friar David Gaa. "Well, part of the answer is because it’s mandated by the law, and the other part is in a major earthquake, a major earthquake, it would be dangerous for the people inside. We have a lot of fourth-graders who come here all the time."

The mission was founded in 1798; construction of the existing church was finished in 1815.
The mission has for years enchanted visitors with its long church walls rich with paintings, a museum depicting the history of the area and the life of friars and the cemetery, where Franciscan brothers are laid to rest near lawns pocked with tombstones crafted in centuries past.

In 2008 the mission received a $640,000 grant from a National Forest Service program called Save America’s Treasures. The work was supposed to be done more quickly, but the state allowed an extension because of the hard economic times.
"If there weren’t problems economically, it would be a different picture," Gaa said.

The grant funds hinged on landing matching contributions, which the mission has received. To date 75 percent of the needed money has been committed for the church, but the grant and the matching funds come with strings attached: the work must be completed by next October.

"There’s a good chance that if we don’t start and finish the work next year we’ll lose that" grant, Gaa said. "The question of will they give us an extension … they might. But I don’t want to get down to the wire and find out they’re not."
The retrofitting involves removing the church’s large wood and tile roof and inserting rebar into the adobe walls.

The mission, which is run as a nonprofit, hopes to complete its fundraising campaign near the end of the year, then in January consider construction bids. Administrators hope to start the work in February in time to finish by October 2012 and reopen soon after.

A capital campaign committee has been in charge of raising money for the work, holding fundraisers and collecting contributions from individuals and organizations who have been heavily involved in the mission and the Old Mission San Luis Rey Historical Foundation, Inc. In the final stretch of fundraising, the committee will look to the community to help meet the remaining $775,000 needed for the work.
"It’s really about the people that believe in the mission," said Jeanne Schmelzer, a fundraising campaign leader for the retrofitting project.

Gigi Gleason, chairwoman of the committee, is hopeful the campaign will raise enough money.
"We all feel very optimistic that we will not only reach our goal but exceed it," she said. "The thought … of having to close the doors (of the mission) is to me unthinkable."