Development Would Raze Landmark : Ventura: Firm wants to level the Peirano building and make an old laundry below it the focus of a courtyard complex.

A Ventura development company is proposing to buy the historic Peirano building across from the San Buenaventura Mission and raze it to show off an old Spanish laundry underneath it.

Ventura Realty Co. earlier this month received approval from a City Council subcommittee to begin negotiations to buy the 116-year-old Peirano building, a state landmark.

The development company plans to destroy the former grocery and put up a re-creation of the historic building’s facade. A lavanderia dating back to the 1700s was discovered under the building two years ago, and Ventura Realty officials want to make the lavanderia the main focus of a courtyard surrounded by a restaurant, shops and offices.

“Obviously, I would like to save both the lavanderia and Peirano’s,” said Tom Wood, president of the development company. “It just doesn’t pencil out. It’s too expensive.”

The Peirano building, at 204 E. Main St., was used as a market until 1987, when the owner retired and the city purchased it for $185,000. The dilapidated one-story building since has been boarded up and vacant. Wood and city officials estimated it would cost about $430,000 to restore the aging structure.

“It’s a hideous amount of money for a building in that condition,” Wood said.

History buffs say they have mixed feelings about Wood’s development proposal.

“We all feel that we would like to keep both,” said Jacqueline Kelly, a member of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission. “We’re very anxious to expose the lavanderia , and of course we’re in love with the Peirano building. (But) if we had to give up something, we would like to keep the lavanderia. “

The lavanderia , a large pool that may have been used for the San Buenaventura Mission’s laundry, is only one of seven discovered in the state. The tile-lined pool, which measures about 26 feet by 30 feet, was unearthed in September, 1991, when city officials were planning to replace part of the floor.

It is tied into the mission’s aqueduct system. The lavanderia was also a primary social gathering place for women of the mission.

Wood said he wants to restore and showcase the lavanderia , rather than cover it up, as some council members advocated last year. A courtyard would be built around the lavanderia , and plaques, paintings and illustrations on the courtyard walls would highlight the Chumash, Mission, Chinatown and Peirano periods.

“It’s supposed to be in good condition,” Wood said. “We would promote the heck out of it.”

But Wood said he cannot showcase the lavanderia unless the Peirano building is razed.

It would be too costly to restore the building and make it earthquake-proof, he said. Even if the building stayed, it would be difficult to show off the lavanderia because it is located at the back of the building, near an alley.

Wood said that by constructing a facade replicating the Peirano building, his company would still be attempting to preserve some of the building’s history.

“The real purists are going to fight,” Wood said. “The purists don’t like reconstruction versus restoration.”

Constructed in 1877, Peirano Market is the oldest brick building in Ventura. The roof trim has ornamental relief brickwork, which contrasts with the Spanish revival red tile roof above the storefront.

On the west wall, two brightly painted, large-scale murals advertise Borax laundry detergent and Ghirardelli chocolate. Pieces of plaster are falling off the west side of the building, and some bricks are missing.

The city can allow demolition of the state historic landmark as long as a series of federal and state environmental reviews are conducted, said Gene Itogawa, a historian at the state Historic Preservation Office.

But if Ventura officials permit the Peirano structure to be razed, then the state is likely to ask for a refund of the $100,000 grant that was given for the purpose of buying and preserving the building, Itogawa said.

When the city purchased the property from Nick Peirano in 1987, it paid $185,000--$100,000 of that from the state grant.

At the time, city officials had planned to preserve the historic landmark and lease it out to a restaurant or similar kind of business.

But few parties were interested in the building because of the high costs of upgrading it.

Last year, the council voted to allow any would-be tenant or buyer to cover up the lavanderia if it would interfere with a business. Members of the Historic Preservation Commission spoke out against the option, saying the lavanderia should be covered with glass so it could be seen.

History buffs are now pushing for the lavanderia to be exposed but are upset that the cost could be the demolition of the Peirano building.

“If it’s going to cost over $400,000 to earthquake-proof the Peirano building, that’s just too cost-prohibitive,” said Richard Peterson, a member of the Historic Preservation Commission. “I’m totally against demolishing historic buildings, but it’s more important to save the lavanderia than a building that is falling apart.”

Ventura Mayor Gregory L. Carson agreed.

“The lavanderia has more history and cultural significance to our community,” said Carson, who sits on the council subcommittee that gave Ventura Realty its blessing on the project.

City officials hope to make the project a cornerstone in Ventura’s downtown revitalization efforts. Carson said a private company such as Ventura Realty could probably do a project faster than if the city were in charge.

“We have to go through the bureaucracy,” Carson said.

Wood and city staff members are expected to present the council with a proposed development agreement in January. Wood said he hopes to buy the building for $80,000 and negotiate a low-interest loan from the city for about $400,000.

If approved, Wood estimated that construction on the project would begin in a year.