Three years after Mission San Gabriel was nearly destroyed by fire, the more than 250-year-old church is set to reopen on July 1, capping a multimillion-dollar drive to restore the landmark after months of delays and introduce a long-in-the-works effort to “re-imagine” the narrative of its impact on Indigenous people.
“It is a very exciting moment … a very exciting time. It is finally coming to completion,” said Rev. Parker Sandoval, vice chancellor and senior director of ministerial services for the Los Angeles Archdiocese, who was part of the planning process of reopening the historic chapel and the accompanying museum at the site.
It was July 10, 2020, when a fire that began in the adobe and wood building’s choir loft consumed the roof of the mission — Mission San Gabriel Arcángel — and seriously damaged its interior.
Scores of firefighting teams — more than 85 firefighters and 12 engine companies from through the west San Gabriel Valley — doused the blaze. But by then there was major damage not just to the roof but to the interior, including its pulpit and altar.
Fallen debris from the roof and ceiling, and firefighters’ heavy equipment, caused severe cracks in the floor tiles.
A few items were saved, including its bell and some historical relics, which were in storage because of some previous renovations at the time.
The church was founded by Father Junipero Serra in 1771 and is widely known as the birthplace of Christianity in Los Angeles.
The home to L.A.’s first generation of Roman Catholics was now a shell of itself. Its roof was destroyed, its relics and religious artifacts threatened or gone.
And a stunned church community, and the city of San Gabriel where the landmark resides, faced a long journey of restoration ahead.
In December, the man accused of setting the fire, John David Corey, was ordered to stand trial. The case is pending.
‘We are going to rebuild’
Mission San Gabriel itself is a relatively small…
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