Thursday, October 04, 2007

Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Church update

The fate of the Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Church complex (1910 & 1934) is garnering a growing amount of concern. (See my original entry on this.) Rafu Shimpo recently wrote about the situation. Some of those now watching this issue with interest include…

  • The California Office of Historic Preservation
  • The California Preservation Foundation
  • The National Trust for Historic Preservation
  • Preserving California's Japantowns (backed by the California Civil Liberties Public Education program and the California Japanese American Community Leadership Council)
  • Members of the Orange County JACL
  • Members of Wintersburg Presbyterian Church (now located in Garden Grove)
  • Dr. Art Hansen, CSUF History Dept.
  • Rafu Shimpo (L.A.’s daily Japanese newspaper)
  • The Orange County Register
  • The City of Huntington Beach Planning Dept.
  • The City of Huntington Beach’s Historical Resources Committee
  • DiscoverNikkei.org
  • Many local historians, preservationists and community activists

If you’d like to know when the Environment Impact Report for this project becomes available, contact Ricky Ramos, Associate Planner at the City of Huntington Beach, and ask to be added to the list of individuals to receive notice when the EIR is released for public comment. Ramos can be contacted at (714) 536-5438 or rramos@surfcity-hb.org.

BTW, although I couldn’t tell from over the construction fences, Phil Brigandi (who studied this site in the 1970s) tells me that the Manse is still standing next to the 1910 mission building. For a brief history of the church, click here.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Chris-
Appreciate the updates on this important issue.
Also wanted to let you know I check in here every few days and always find your posts interesting and educational.
Keep up the great work!

Anonymous said...

Wow, thanks for the info on this. My husband and I have dreamed about buying this church and rezoning it residential and living in it. I didn't know the story behind it at all.

Chris Jepsen said...

Ed: Thanks for the kind words. Are you the same Ed who drops past the Archives fairly regularly?

Susan M.: The building I think you're referring to is the newer (1934)church on the site. The small wooden buildings behind it are even more historic (1910), as is the attractive Furuta House next door. If I had to pick one of those buildings to live in, it would be the Futura's bungalow. (We could be neighbors!) :-)

Anonymous said...

not the same Ed.
i've never been to the archives. might be tempted if you could let me know where they are located and what sorts of things might be found there.
perhaps an idea for a future post on a day you can't think of another topic? i know the feeling!
another suggestion - an "open thread" asking readers for readers to tell you what topics/areas interest them (to find others) or hidden gems of oc.

Anonymous said...

The bungalow is cute, but it looks a little small for us (we have three teenagers!). We'd keep the mural, of course. :)

I'd like to know more about the old house on Gothard that's surrounded by industrial buildings. Do you know which one I mean? It's just south of Warner. Blue in color.