San Juan Bautista
– Design work on the new St. Francis Retreat is moving forward
after a seismic assessment showed it is safe to rebuild the retreat
on its original site.
San Juan Bautista – Design work on the new St. Francis Retreat is moving forward after a seismic assessment showed it is safe to rebuild the retreat on its original site.
The retreat’s main building, the 150-year-old Victorian style Flint-Bixby Ranch House, was destroyed by fire last June. The Franciscan Friars of California, who own and operate the retreat here, hope to construct a new southwest-style retreat complex, with the first building completed by fall of 2008, according to Ed DeGroot, business manager for the retreat.
Fall Creek Engineering of Santa Cruz, which dug a 225-foot seismic trench to assess the stability of the retreat site, has told the Franciscans that the San Andreas Fault will not hinder their plans to rebuild on the original site, DeGroot said.
Plans call for the first building to house a bookstore, dining facilities, kitchen, offices and several meeting spaces, DeGroot said. A second building will feature an event center and a large conference room, he said, with a third building for the St. Francis friary, he said. The second and third buildings are part of later planning phases, he said.
The insurance payout for the destroyed building was just less than $2.4 million, DeGroot said. The cost of the entire project is expected to require an additional $2 million to $3 million, he said. So far, about $300,000 has been raised toward that total, but fundraising efforts are temporarily on hold while the Franciscans focus on the site engineering and planning work, DeGroot said.
St. Francis offers retreat programs of its own and also host retreats for outside organizations, DeGroot said. It serves 6,000 to 7,000 visitors annually.
DeGroot said a temporary kitchen is expected to be up and running in March to serve the retreat’s guests, who have been coming since just two weeks after the fire.
Operating without its historic retreat house has not been easy for St. Francis, he said.
“It’s challenging,” DeGroot said. “We’re needing to prepare all the food down at Casa Maria (the restaurant next to the mission).”
Several modular trailers serve as meeting rooms, DeGroot said. The fire cut the retreat’s guest capacity from 135 to 110, DeGroot said.
“It’s not the charm of the old ranch house,” DeGroot said. “But the food is good.”
The new St. Francis building will use renewable resources for construction materials and the energy to power it, DeGroot said.
“We’re starting out building environmentally friendly as a priority,” he said.
Solar energy panels and cinder blocks built from recycled wood and resin are to be included in the design, DeGroot said.
The St. Francis Retreat holds a special place in the hearts of many locals. George Barton, a local attorney who has attended functions at the St. Francis Retreat, said he is excited about the planning and construction of the new building. “That place is responsible for helping so many people,” Barton said.
The Franciscan Friars of California are celebrating their 60th year of owning and operating the St. Francis Retreat.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or mv*********@fr***********.com.
