Demolition

Exercising faith in the power of prayer, about 40 supporters of the historic St. Vibiana's Cathedral held a vigil Saturday outside the downtown landmark in hopes of sparing it from the wrecking ball. The Los Angeles archdiocese wants to raze the 120-year-old earthquake-damaged building, erecting a new spiritual headquarters in its place.

The lockup of St. Vibiana's cathedral complex on Saturday did more than disrupt archdiocesan plans to dismantle a bell tower. It disrupted the lives of parishioners and downtown workers who have attended weekday Mass there for years. "I'm annoyed that people are only hearing the other side'sstory," says Celia Guerrero, who works in a law office near St. Vibiana and has attended daily Mass at the 120-year-old church for eight years. "Why can't we picket in front of City Hall?" she suggests.

Sometimes the bad guys are right. So here was His Eminence, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, standing behind the remains of the altar in St. Vibiana's Cathedral, spewing venom at anyone trying to stop him from tearing it down. What did he think of the suggestion that the church might need a city permit to level the cathedral? "Ludicrous," Mahony replied. What about the notion that the cathedral, one of Los Angeles' most historic churches, might contain some cultural value?

St. Vibiana's Cathedral could be torn down in mid-July under a Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency plan for quick environmental review announced Monday. However, preservationists protested the decision, calling it "so outrageous" that they may challenge it in court. Trying to please Cardinal Roger M.

Santa Monica officials heard testimony Wednesday that the nine-story Sea Castle apartment building, ravaged by fire last week, should be torn down. Firefighters, police officers and structural engineers expressed health and safety concerns about the burned-out structure to the city's Nuisance Abatement Board.

White-hot acetylene torches bite into the steel bones of the abandoned hulk known as Vertical Test Stand-1, cutting apart the rusted cradle of American rocketry. Rocketdyne is demolishing this relic of the Cold War and the space race. Not because it cares little for history, but because it needs to save money. U.S. scientists of the 1950s and '60s labored feverishly here at Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Laboratory, testing prototype rocket engines that they prayed could beat the Soviets.

The seascape along the Santa Barbara Channel has been colored for decades by surfers, pelicans, freighters and offshore oil drilling platforms. Four of the oil rigs are nicknamed Heidi, Hope, Hazel and Hilda. These Erector-set-like hunks of metal stand 80 feet above the water, weigh 6 million pounds and together have pumped up 63 million barrels of crude oil for Chevron. And by August, they should be gone.

The purchase and demolition of the Pussycat adult theater may cost the city as much as $100,000 more than budgeted, partly because of legal costs, officials said this week. The city paid $300,000 to buy the property last year and began eviction proceedings against the tenant of the movie house as well as a small car-rental company next to the theater.

A peace conference of sorts was held Friday between church officials and architectural preservationists on the fate of St. Vibiana's Cathedral, the downtown Los Angeles landmark that the Roman Catholic archdiocese wants to demolish and replace. The conference produced no decision about the fate of the 120-year-old cathedral and participants said they did not expect a breakthrough at a final session today.

A peace conference of sorts was held Friday between church officials and architectural preservationists on the fate of St. Vibiana's Cathedral, the downtown Los Angeles landmark that the Roman Catholic archdiocese wants to demolish and replace. The conference produced no decision about the fate of the 120-year-old cathedral and participants said they did not expect a breakthrough at a final session today.