In July 2005 the Daffodil Tea published a 275-page report entitled: St. Peter’s Chapel, A Historic Landmark in Jeopardy of Being Lost, that documented the deteriorated condition of the Chapel and its art glass collection and made recommendations for alternative management of the facility that would increase regular public access to the Chapel. In October of 2005, 167 cracks were detected in the Tiffany collection by a stained-glass conservator. In March 2007, a follow-up evaluation by the stained glass conservator and restorer Reflection Studios, revealed a shocking increase in cracks in the glass collection, with a total of 387 detected. The City of Vallejo’s Architectural Heritage and Landmarks Commission received a grant from the California State Office of Historic Preservation to conduct a Historic Structure Report for the Chapel. Click here for a link to the Historic Structure Report prepared by Thomas Rex Hardy, Architect. In June 2007, the Solano County Grand Jury issued its findings and recommendations regarding the care of and access to the Chapel. The City of Vallejo and its tenant manager have set goals for some changes in response to the Grand Jury report.

The Daffodil Tea organizers believe that time is of the greatest essence. With the development of many new cracks likely and continued threats to the Chapel and its windows from various deferred maintenance, age and major restoration sources, there is no time to waste. Preservation and restoration of this precious property have been unnecessarily politicized since observations of the deteriorating conditions have begun to be made by our volunteers and many professionals.

A failure in political leadership and reticence to act on the part of all three players responsible for the ownership and management of the site, is costing the Chapel and its Tiffany glass ongoing preventable deterioration and has hampered restoration fundraising. At this time, three parties are directly responsible for the care of the Chapel. The City of Vallejo is the issuer of a 30-year lease to the tenant managing organization. The City’s Master Developer is the owner of the property, and the tenant manager is fully responsible for its daily operations, upkeep and programming. We know from our own fundraising efforts that opportunities for major contributions to the restoration fund have quite frankly been squandered due to inaction of these three parties.

We agree with some who believe that now is the time to urge all parties to transfer the property to the National Trust for Historic Preservation who are most capable of day-to-day managing, evaluating the needs of such a facility, and mounting a successful national fundraising campaign for the Chapel’s restoration and long-term maintenance and most importantly, of ensuring robust public access. If you agree, please contact the National Trust Western Regional Office and let them know of your concern and wish for them to become the stewards of this priceless American treasure indeed in jeopardy of being lost.

Write, email, fax or call the Western Regional Office Director for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Feel free to refer her to our website, www.stpeterschapel.org as a source of information on which you base your concern.

Anthea Hartig Ph.D., Director
5 Third Street, Suite 707
San Francisco, California 94103
Phone: 415-947-0692
Fax: 415-947-0699
Email: wro@nthp.org

The photo on the left shows peeling paint on an exterior corner. The center photo is the window dedicated by the people of Boston to Admiral Frank Wildes. The crack in this photo in the lower robe shown in the upper photo was the first new crack observed by volunteers in 2003. The photo on the right shows what volunteers first thought to be a crack from the left eye down the cheek. Stained-glass conservators found that it was loss of paint–an even more serious condition than a crack. It indicates conditions that may cause more of the paint of the face to fail and is an indication of the urgency of the needed repairs.

A project of Arc Ecology

P O Box 1573

Vallejo, CA 94590