Wayfarers Chapel May Find New Home In Rancho Palos Verdes: Bill Aims To Save The Landmark

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA — A state congressman plans to introduce a bill in the coming weeks in hopes of securing a new home for Rancho Palos Verdes’ landslide-damaged Wayfarers Chapel.

In written testimony to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Ted Lieu announced plans to introduce a bill that would authorize a land transfer to the city, officials announced Tuesday.

The transfer would allow the Swedenborgian chapel to potentially be rebuilt at the Battery Barnes property — currently owned by the U.S. Coast Guard — adjacent to City Hall, officials said.

If the legislation is passed, officials said, the federal government would have “10 years to transfer the 4-acre former coastal military defense site … to the City."

“Transferring this land is an essential step toward ensuring the Chapel can rise again and stand as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the community in the face of a natural disaster,” Lieu wrote in his testimony.

In a statement to The Daily Breeze, Rancho Palos Verdes Mayor Paul Seo thanked “Rep. Lieu for his advocacy and support for the proposal to rebuild Wayfarers Chapel."

“While no commitments or agreements are in place, securing a land transfer is a critical step toward making this vision a reality,” Seo said in his statement to the newspaper.

‘Unprecedented Land Movement’ Damages Chapel

The chapel was designed by Lloyd Wright, the son of the American architectural pioneer Frank Lloyd Wright, according to the chapel’s website.

“When the Chapel was completed in 1951, it stood alone like a precious jewel on a deserted dusty knoll overlooking the blue Pacific,” the chapel’s website says.

For the next more than 70 years, “the Wayfarers Chapel, known as 'The Glass Church,' welcomed thousands of visitors from around the world each year,” Lie wrote in his testimony.

In December 2023, the chapel was designated as a National Historic Landmark, according to Lieu.

However, just two months after receiving its status, “unprecedented land movement in the Portuguese Bend Landslide Complex” damaged the structure, forcing it to close, Lieu said.

To preserve the chapel, the Wayfarers’ Board of Directors decided to have it dismantled in hopes of future reconstruction, according to Lieu.

“With the Chapel now dismantled and in storage, the Board is seeking to rebuild this irreplaceable treasure in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, where it has been a beloved part of the community for generations,” Lieu wrote.

Rebuilding the chapel at its original site, though, is not possible, given the “devastating land movement,” Lieu said.

A New Home For The Chapel

“Together, the Board and City leaders have identified an ideal site for relocation: an approximately 4-acre Coast Guard property located 1 mile west on a former WWII coastal defense site at the Ken Dyda Civic Center,” Lieus said.

The property is home to a “5,000-square-foot subterranean bunker and is currently in the divestiture process,” Lieu said.

The envisioned campus not only includes the rebuilt chapel and bell tower, but also includes “public restrooms, a museum, café, interpretive visitor center, public trails and open space, public parking, and educational native plant gardens,” according to Lieu.

“The Wayfarers Board has developed a vision to reconstruct the Chapel on the Battery Barnes property while serving as an educational and cultural site, community gathering space, and architectural destination,” Lieu said.