Local News in Brief : Mission Needs Repairs

The historic San Gabriel Mission, closed since it was damaged in the October earthquake, will not be reopened in the near future because of a lack of funds for repairs, officials say.

Mission officials estimate it will cost at least $2 million to make the mission and a museum usable again, but so far have raised only about $520,000. Of that amount, $350,000 came from the state Office of Emergency Services and can only be used to repair the museum.

The 217-year-old mission has withstood a number of earthquakes, including those in 1812, 1858, 1933 and 1971. The October quake left cracks in the mission’s massive walls and fissures in the baptistery ceiling. The mission’s famed bell tower, with its distinctive asymmetrical constellation of six church bells, is deeply cracked.