It will cost about $8.5 million to stabilize the moving ground beneath San Clemente’s Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens and the City Council has agreed to spend that money, even if it means work on a footbridge near the beach needs to be delayed.
The council approved recently the emergency repairs at the estate, once home to city founder Ole Hansen, which is owned by the city but operated by a nonprofit. The casa and its 2.5 acres of grounds are used for public art programs, as a place where schoolchildren learn about the beach town’s history and as a picturesque rental venue for weddings and other private events.
The more than 100-year-old casa sits on a cliff high over the pier and offers panoramic views of the ocean and coastline from its manicured gardens and view terraces.
While the council also considered doing nothing to shore up the hillside or getting more bids for the work, support from the community made the decision to push ahead easy, officials said, with the council agreeing to move forward with the contractor already in place and beginning the emergency repairs.
“We don’t know if we’ll get financial assistance or grants, but we have to get moving,” Mayor Chris Duncan said. “We have a little bit of money, but we’ll also need to prioritize projects and this may push some of those out.”
It’s been 12 weeks since the first signs of slipping soil appeared near the historic home’s view terrace on April 27. At one point, several units of a condo complex below and just to the north of the Casa Romantica were red-tagged because of concerns of stability and falling debris as portions of patio crumbled down the hill.
An initial geological study and work to shore things up cost the city $75,000.
The temporary repairs and efforts to remold the slope didn’t stabilize the soil, said Kiel Koger, the city’s public works director and engineer.
A $6.5 million barrier wall was also built along the train tracks below to
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