In fact, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation during this time established itself as the “Mud People,” as one of the board members called us.
As previously mentioned, on my arrival in 1981 the trust had been rebuilding the presidio padres’ quarters next to the chapel at 123 E. Canon Perdido. The building was dedicated on April 21, 1982, on the 200th anniversary of the presidio’s founding.
To this day, perhaps the most important event in the SBTHP’s history was about to commence: the reconstruction of the Presidio Chapel.
By 1982, a set of chapel reconstruction plans, created by architect Gil Sanchez, were submitted to California State Parks. Normally, a fully adopted general plan for a state park is required before any major projects may be undertaken. However, the parks department allowed the project to proceed before the general plan for El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park was adopted in 1988.
Santa Barbara underwent an architectural rebirth after the destructive 1925 earthquake. The town was rebuilt in the Spanish colonial Mediterranean architecture that distinguishes its downtown landscape to this day.
One of the models for its rebirth was El Paseo, a complex of shops, restaurants, offices and apartments built in the early 1920s, prior to the quake.
Occupying most of the first block on the north side of East De la Guerra Street between State and Anacapa streets, it was constructed around the historic Casa de la Guerra, at 15 E. De la Guerra St., and incorporated the adobe into the complex.
El Paseo had come through the earthquake with only minor damage but, from the 1920s to 1970, it had had a series of owners, none of whom had done any major renovation since its opening.
Community Members Speak Up to Save Murals at Santa Barbara’s Ortega Park
After hearing from artists, activists and others, the city s Historic Landmarks Commission votes to indefinitely continue the proposal
A mural titled “Campesinos” is one of several murals at Ortega Park in Santa Barbara that are at the center of a debate over how and whether to preserve them during a planned renovation of the park. (Courtesy photo) By Joshua Molina, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @JECMolina
February 3, 2021
| 10:13 p.m.
The city s Parks & Recreation Department has resisted requests to preserve the murals. Instead, it commissioned a report that suggested that seven of the murals could be re-created at the park.
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Lacking the modern equipment available today, the effort required a tremendous amount of paid physical labor and planning, as the construction had to take place seasonally adobe bricks could not be left out in the rain, as they would have melted to mud.
Over the course of describing the reconstruction of the fort, in several installments, I hope to convey to the reader just what it takes to make and lay the bricks and gather the other materials required for fenestration and the roof structure.
The task was formidable, and Goicoechea was able to carry it out effectively with a cooperative labor force that included a mix of soldiers and local Chumash Indians. I came across only one hostile incident in the records, when a soldier disobeyed a Goicoechea order, was pulled down from a wall, arrested and sentenced to jail time.