CATHEDRAL SEEN ON CALTRANS LAND : LEGISLATORS SEEK WILSON'S HELP IN ACQUIRING SITES.

Byline: David Bloom Daily News Staff Writer

Two state legislators representing downtown Los Angeles urged Gov. Pete Wilson and Caltrans to make surplus properties there available to the Catholic archdiocese as possible replacement sites for St. Vibiana's Cathedral.

``It is our hope that the state of California can facilitate the timely sale of surplus Caltrans property to the archdiocese, at fair market value,'' wrote Sen. Richard Polanco and Assemblyman Louis Caldera, both Los Angeles Democrats, in a letter delivered Monday to Gov. Pete Wilson's office.

The most likely site is a parking lot just north of St. Vibiana's at the intersection of Second and Main streets, said Bill Mabie, Polanco's chief of staff.

``There are a variety of buildings in the area,'' he said. ``Let's look at what Caltrans has.''

The agency has at least one office complex near the cathedral, and is considering either building or leasing space for a new headquarters elsewhere downtown, Mabie said.

One possibility may be a swap of Caltrans land for property owned by the city of Los Angeles or its community redevelopment agency that might better suit Caltrans' needs, Mabie said. The city then could sell the swapped land to the archdiocese.

``The thing is to open up and get people talking about the possibilities,'' Mabie said.

The legislators pointed out in their letter that time is short because the archdiocese wants to open the new cathedral on Labor Day, 2000.

``We should be prepared to discuss these issues with the archdiocese, the city of Los Angeles and its community redevelopment agency without delay,'' the legislators wrote.

Polanco and Caldera are hoping to keep the $50 million project near the current cathedral, as a stimulus for development there, Mabie said.

``(A new cathedral) would revitalize an economically depressed area where the state has already invested significant resources in new and refurbished state offices,'' the legislators wrote.

Wilson Press Secretary Sean Walsh said the Governor's Office had not reviewed the letter and couldn't comment.

Wilson has championed efforts over the past two years to bring in more state offices to help redevelop the historic core area, Walsh said.

One of the Caltrans office buildings is vacant, but agency officials recently held a meeting with downtown leaders and promised to improve the graffiti-ridden site, Walsh said.

``I haven't seen the letter, but it sounds like what Mr. Caldera and Mr. Polanco said is consonant with what Cardinal Mahony said at his press conference last week,'' said the Rev. Gregory Coiro, spokesman for the archdiocese.

``The cardinal said the archdiocese was working with county and state officials looking at possible sites close to the civic center,'' Coiro said.

Last week, Cardinal Roger Mahony announced that the archdiocese had given up on efforts to build a $50 million Cathedral Square project on the site of St. Vibiana's because of ongoing obstacles thrown up by preservationists seeking to save the historic church, one of the city's oldest buildings.

Mahony said the archdiocese would look at other downtown sites, including three county-owned properties and one next to the vacant Union Oil building along the 110 Freeway.