QUAKE DAMAGE FIXED RESTORED DE LA OSA SITE WILL REOPEN SATURDAY.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

ENCINO - Eighteen months after it was finally closed for earthquake repairs, Los Encinos State Historic Park will reopen to the public Saturday with a blessing ceremony by local American Indians, speeches by elected officials and cake.

The five-acre historical park, which boasts the second-oldest adobe in the Valley, was severely damaged in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. Two of the historic buildings on the site, the de la Osa Adobe and the Garnier Building, were closed to the public, although the grounds were left open, until about 18 months ago when the entire park was closed, said Russ Kimura, supervising ranger with the recruitment station.

Now the park will reopen with new landscaping, specially designed pathways for wheelchair users and the refurbished historic buildings, which are still undergoing repairs.

``This is one of the Valley's premiere historic sites and it's exciting to see it finally come back to life after being closed for almost eight years,'' said Richard Gulbranson, president of the San Fernando Valley Historical Society and curator of Campo de Chuenga and the Andres Pico Adobe in Mission Hills.

``It's not the same thing, standing outside looking at buildings that are badly damaged,'' he added.

The Jan. 17, 1994, earthquake shook the two-story limestone Garnier building, causing all the plaster to fall, Guiney said. The building, which dates to 1873, was used as living quarters for ranch hands.

The entire north wall of the eight-room adobe collapsed, burying a pickup truck that had been parked outside. However, restorers were able to save the original window from that wall and restore it.

Some interior work remains to be done on the inside of the adobe, but visitors Saturday will be able to see parts of it, Guiney said. Eventually, a section in the middle of the building will feature some restored murals and a wall with part of the original adobe construction exposed.

``You're looking at 150-year-old material,'' Guiney said, pointing to the rough brick wall, 2 feet thick. ``A hundred and 50 years ago, people's hands made those blocks and mixed the adobe mortar and straw that goes between them.''

Saturday's events will include a blessing ceremony performed by Tongva Indians, whose ancestors were the first inhabitants of the area, a ribbon-cutting ceremony and cake. Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, who, as an assemblywoman, helped secure $400,000 in funds to improve the park, will be one of the guest speakers.

The park received $1.3 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds, but that could be used only to repair the damaged buildings, said Russ Guiney, district superintendent for the Angeles District of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. An additional $375,000 came from the department.

The money secured by Kuehl was used for improvements to the park, including a new fence around the park, landscaping and decomposed granite walkways that make the park accessible to people who use wheelchairs, but still retain the rustic appearance of the park.

The park is on the site of the El Encino Rancho. In 1845, Gov. Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of California, deeded the 4,460-acre site to three mission Indians, who raised cattle there.

Valley residents might not realize that many of them live on the site of the old ranch, Kimura said. Its boundaries were roughly between Mulholland Drive, Sepulveda Boulevard, White Oak Avenue and Vanowen Street.

Vincente de la Osa, a Spanish-Mexican, bought a share of the ranch in 1849, and by 1857, owned the entire spread. When he died in 1862, the ranch passed to his wife, Rita, and then to her son-in-law, Los Angeles County Sheriff James Thompson, who bought it in 1867.

The de la Osa family allowed travelers en route to Santa Barbara on the El Camino Real to stay overnight at the adobe, only paying for food and lodging if they could, said Guy Weddington McCreary, a local historian.

Eugene and Phillipe Garnier, French Basques, purchased the land in 1869, and began raising sheep, which thrived better than cattle in a drought. Another Basque, Gaston Oxarart, purchased the ranch in 1878 and raised as many as 32,000 sheep; in 1890, the ranch passed to his nephew, Simon Gless, who sold it to his father-in-law, Domingo Amestoy, in 1892.

The park also has a replica - cast from the original mold - of the old mission bells set up along the El Camino Real in the early 1900s, Kimura said.

In more recent years, the park has been a favorite site for mothers and children to visit, as well as a spot for picnics, birthday parties and weddings. Although several sleek geese paddled contentedly around the guitar-shape reservoir on the site, Kimura said the park's mallard population dwindled while the park was closed. The reason? No tasty bread chunks from visiting children.

One of the remaining mysteries about the park is the name of the adobe: park officials aren't sure whether it's spelled de la Osa or de la Ossa, Kimura said. Some of that family's descendants are expected to attend the gathering and might have some information about the true spelling.

ADOBE FESTIVITY SATURDAY

Restored after quake, de la Osa Adobe reopens The grand reopening of the Los Encinos State Historic Park celebration will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the park, 16756 Moorpark St., Encino.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box, map

Photo:

(1 -- color) The renovated Garnier Building is seen through a window in the restored de la Osa Adobe in Encino.

(2) Photos show the damage done by the 1994 Northridge Earthquake to the de la Osa Adobe, and the restored structure.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box:

ADOBE FESTIVITY SATURDAY (see text)

Map:

De la Osa Adobe