MISSION REBUILT BETTER THAN NEW : DOORS AT 1797 SITE STAY OPEN DURING WORK.

Byline: Elizabeth Aguilera Daily News Staff Writer

Partially hidden behind a row of trees, the Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana is undergoing earthquake repairs, but much of it remains open, inviting citizens to visit its prizes of the past.

The construction adds to the mystery of the 199-year-old mission, founded in 1797 by Father Fermin Lasuen, who named it for the canonized 13th-century Spanish king, Ferdinand III.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency provided a $1 million grant that has allowed the construction process to go on while the grounds stay open for visitors and special events, including weddings.

``Our emphasis was to do the project in phases, to allow the mission to stay open for tourists,'' said Bud Soto, vice president of California Restoration Builders, which is repairing damage from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. ``It is very important to the parish to be open and for people to know about it.''

Even with the hard hat area signs and stacks of roofing tile, the quaint mission grounds emit a sense of history off a quiet portion of San Fernando Mission Boulevard, behind tall adobe walls and wooden gates.

The buildings, built by Gabrielino Indians under supervision of Franciscan missionaries, have withstood nearly two centuries of seismic activity, but not without repairs. ``What is amazing is the low-tech methods of construction that were used 200 years ago that stood up to seismic events over the years,'' Soto said. ``We have found evidence of repairs done up to 150 years ago. It is difficult to speculate how many earthquakes have happened over the years and how many construction schemes have been used for repair.''

The Northridge Quake shook loose one of the west walls, caused plaster to crumble and cracks to appear like long, spindly fingers throughout the mission complex.

Construction has been going on since May, and the main museum structure, called the convento, is 99 percent finished, according to Ron Mayle, construction project supervisor.

The convento houses some of the artifacts at the mission and will be opened to the public by Christmas.

Painted murals and artwork adorn the inside of the building that sits right on the boulevard.

According to Mayle, the original artists will be called in to repaint and restore. The work was done sometime in the early 1970s, he said.

Restoration Builders have restructured the attic area of the convento with timbers and straps. The building has 4-foot thick adobe walls, and reinforcements went into those as well, Mayle said.

The construction phase eventually will touch every structure in the complex except the church, which was rebuilt after the 1971 Sylmar Quake.

The immaculately groomed, seven-acre grounds are also home to several dozen peafowl that have free rein. ``It is their property. As far as they are concerned they own it,'' Mayle said. ``They haven't gotten in the way at all.''

The peafowl have grown accustomed to the activity and are very curious, Soto said. The birds have made roosts on the scaffolds and ``they have learned to leave us alone. We work around them. We're cohabitating.''

Like the peafowl, the tourists who visit the mission every day follow a tour that leads them right along the fence separating the construction from the open areas of the complex.

Mayle said, ``the public watches our work, while they tour.'' His crew consists generally of 20 to 25 members, plus 10 to 15 more painters and plasterers.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) Working under the eaves of the convento, a construction crew member nears completion of construction on the section of the mission.

(2) A worker prepares to place a steel reinforcement inside a column at the San Fernando Mission, which has been under construction since May.

Bob Halvorsen/Daily News