Construction Begins on St. Vibiana's Cathedral

The Rafu Shimpo - January 16, 2003
Historic landmark and future home of Little Tokyo Library set to reopen 2004.

Demolition began this week of St. VibianaÕs school building located near the corner of Second and Los Angeles streets in Little Tokyo. The site where the historic cathedral resides will be the new home of a performing arts center, a housing complex, a restaurant, and the Little Tokyo Library, which will move from its current Alameda St. location.

Built in 1876, St. VibianaÕs Cathedral received several hundred worshippers on a weekly bsis. In 1994, the Northdridge earthquake rendered St. VibianaÕs uninhabitable and was subsequently condemned a year later.

Gilmore Associates, managers of several Downtown L.A. development projects, purchased the landmark in 1999, securing a reported $4 million in funding from the state to create the performing arts center, which will be used for students at California State University at Los Angeles. A restaurant will be built on the small park near the intersection of Second and Main streets. The mixed-income housing complex will run from Main to Los Angeles streets.

The new Little Tokyo library will be built at the north-west intersection of Second and Main streets, cater-corner to the New Otani Hotel. The 12,500 square-foot structure will include multi-media computer stations, multi-purpose meeting rooms and a courtyard. Anthony Lumsden, architect of the library, commented that the building will be designed to allow in natural lighting and will be structured in a Japanese srtle using wood and double-plane glass.

The library and the performing arts center are expected for completion in mid-2004. The housing complex is expected to be complete by mid-2005.

Copyright 2003, The Rafu Shimpo