CATHEDRAL SITE, NAME TO CHANGE : MAHONY PREFERS DOWNTOWN LOCALE.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Citing hurdles thrown up by preservationists, Cardinal Roger Mahony said Monday that he has abandoned plans to build on the site of St. Vibiana's Cathedral and now is looking at other downtown sites for the archdiocese's new $45 million cathedral.

The church already has entered into negotiations on a handful of sites for the new cathedral, to be named the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Mahony said.

``It is my overwhelming preference and that of my advisers that we try to remain in the greater Civic Center area of Los Angeles,'' Mahony told reporters Monday. ``It is the traditional location for the cathedral church, and we are hopeful that we will be able to fulfill that desire.''

Mahony said there was no end in sight to the legal challenges put up by the Los Angeles Conservancy, which is fighting demolition of the 120-year-old, quake-damaged St. Vibiana's at Second and Main streets.

``The specter of years of costly, superfluous legal challenges and other roadblocks over the Second and Main streets site have caused us to take active and aggressive steps to find a new location for our cathedral church, and this decision is final,'' Mahony said.

Even so, Mahony said the Catholic Archdiocese will continue to fight efforts by the conservancy to block the demolition of St. Vibiana's. Once the way is cleared, Mahony said, his plans are to immediately demolish the old church and sell the property.

Conservancy leader Linda Dishman said she welcomes Mahony's commitment to build a cathedral in the downtown area but said preservationists will not drop their effort to protect St. Vibiana's from the wrecking ball.

``We continue to believe this is an important structure and this (decision) is the first step toward its preservation,'' Dishman said.

Dishman said the conservancy would not buy the property itself, but might play a role in facilitating a third-party purchase of the cathedral for preservation and refurbishment for another use.

She cited two churches in the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles that have been converted to community centers, suggesting them as a model for the future of St. Vibiana's.

``We will pursue that very aggressively,'' she said.

In the meantime, Mahony said the church is looking at securing options to several downtown properties.

He said the church is furthest along in negotiating an option to buy a property west of the Harbor Freeway, which church officials said is next to the vacant Union Oil building near 4th Street and Beaudry Avenue.

``That site will provide us with approximately 200,000 square feet of buildable area and will give the new cathedral a marvelous vista point over the city,'' Mahony said. ``We expect that an agreement will be signed in a matter of days.''

Church officials said they have begun talks with the county and the California Department of Transportation regarding other sites, including:

A county-owned site on First Street that is across Spring Street from City Hall.

A county-owned parking lot on Grand Avenue between Temple Street and the Hollywood Freeway. The site is used by visitors to the county Hall of Administration and patrons of the Music Center.

A county-owned parking garage bordered by Grand Avenue, First Street, Hill Street and Second Street.

A Caltrans property to the north of the existing cathedral across Second Street, between Main and Los Angeles streets.

Church officials said they also have looked at a property immediately to the west of the cathedral. However, that site contains an office building and Mahony said the priority is to find a property that is vacant.

The church leader said he hopes to negotiate options with owners of about three properties before deciding in ``a couple of months'' which site to select for the new cathedral.

In announcing that the archdiocese is focusing its attention on downtown, officials said it is now improbable that the new cathedral will be built in the San Fernando Valley, as some have proposed.

``We have to keep our options open but it is very unlikely,'' said the Rev. Gregory Coiro, an archdiocese spokesman.

The demolition of St. Vibiana's has been blocked by a court order, despite the fact that the Los Angeles City Council voted last week to de-list the church from the city's roster of historic monuments.

Archdiocese attorney John P. McNicholas said he will work to get the court to lift a temporary stay of the demolition at a hearing Thursday and hopes an appeals court will clear the way later this month for a swift environmental study of the demolition.

Once the courts clear the way, McNicholas said, there will be swift action to tear down the boarded-up church.

``It's been declared a hazard to public safety,'' he said.

Mahony said the property may be used after demolition for a local parish center if it's not sold, but he ruled out any reconsideration of the St. Vibiana's site for the new cathedral.

``There are no circumstances under which that would happen,'' he said.

Councilwoman Rita Walters said she was disappointed that the project was blocked at the Second and Main streets site, saying she fears that it means the boarded-up church or a vacant lot may sit in the economically distressed area for decades without any productive use.

However, Walters said she was glad that Mahony wants to stay downtown.

``I'm delighted that the cardinal is making every effort to stay in downtown Los Angeles,'' she said.

During Mahony's news conference, about 10 members of the Los Angeles Catholic Workers group sang songs outside the gate to protest the new cathedral.

Standing next to a poster that read, ``Spend God's Money on God's Poor,'' activist Jeff Dietrich said his group would prefer to see the archdiocese spend the money on helping the city's less fortunate.

``We still think it's a scandal to spend $50 million on a new cathedral wherever you spend it,'' he said.

Mahony said he hopes the activists will sing in the new cathedral, which he said he is optimistic can be built by 2000.

He said he will travel to Madrid next week to meet with the Spanish architect regarding the potential new sites.

``Although now hindered from our original goal of constructing our new cathedral on the original site, nonetheless, I am very optimistic and excited about our decision to remain in the downtown Los Angeles Civic Center area,'' Mahony said.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, map

PHOTO (1 -- color) Cardinal Roger Mahony says the S t. Vibiana's site won't be used for a new cathedral church.

(2) Members of Los Angeles Catholic Workers sing songs while protesting plans to build a new cathedral.

Phil McCarten/Daily News

Map: New cathedral sites