Casa Romantica reopens main salon 18 months after devastating landslide
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (KABC) -- The cultural focal point of San Clemente is once again welcoming the public to its main salon.
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens held a grand reopening ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday.
"The fact that we're here today is a little bit of a miracle," said San Clemente Councilmember Chris Duncan.
The reopening comes 18 months after a landslide heavily damaged parts of the historic property.
"Now it's looking absolutely wonderful. People love it. They love to coming here and this is a home for everyone in the area," said Ruth DeNault, president of the Casa Romantica Board.
Jacqui Groseth, co-executive director of Casa Romantica, touched on the journey it took to get to this point.
"Once that initial 'Oh my goodness' kind of got out of the way in those first few days after the landslide, we immediately went into just an attitude of hope and resilience to get to this day."
Parts of the center had been yellow-tagged and closed to visitors.
"We had to cancel a lot of concerts and dance exhibits. We had to cancel our beloved Nutcracker ballet that usually happens around the Christmas time."
Work to build a retaining wall and stabilize the sliding slope cost the city more than $8 million.
"It's probably the safest building in San Clemente. This building is not going anywhere," said San Clemente Mayor Victor Cabral said.
The city credits its residents with raising the money needed to save the landmark.
"We can't let our history slip away and we're going to make the sacrifices together in a unified way to save Casa Romantica and we did," Duncan said.
The city's goal is to rebuild and reopen the patio that overlooks the ocean in the near future.
