The historic Mission Basilica San Buenaventura in Ventura is one of 26 nationwide projects to receive a portion of the $11.9 million in Semiquincentennial grants from the National Park Service, announced at a press conference on Oct. 1.
The grants were awarded to preserve structures listed in the National Register of Historic Places that are associated with the founding of the United States, to coincide with the country’s 250th anniversary.
Mission Basilica San Buenaventura, founded in 1782, received $750,000 to repair plaster that makes up the entirety of the structure, including the bell tower damaged by storms in 2025. Church officials have said that the structure’s integrity could be compromised if the plaster was not repaired.
The restoration will include stripping the existing plaster, strengthening the adobe interior walls, then adding a more breathable plaster, said David Bolton, executive director of the California Missions Foundation, which helped write and submit the grant proposal.
Nearly all of the other properties awarded grants were located on the East Coast, but Mission Basilica San Buenaventura was chosen as the only California site due in part to funds collected helping during the American Revolutionary War against Great Britain, Bolton said.
The grants are funded through the Historic Preservation Fund, which was established in 1977 and to date has provided more than $2 billion in preservation funding.
Other properties that received Semiquincentennial grants include George Washington’s final wartime headquarters in New Jersey, the Enfield Meetinghouse in Connecticut that was used for municipal government, and the colonial-era Van Cortlandt Manor in New York.
“It is rewarding to see federal funds combining with local support to make important preservation projects possible,” Bolton said. “Collaboration is at the heart of CMF as we continue to work on major projects at these California landmarks and historic treasures.”
During the press conference, Father Tom Elewaut, pastor emeritus at Mission Basilica San Buenaventura, thanked several supporters who shone a light on the mission’s need, including letters of support from Congressman Salud Carbajal and Ventura County Supervisor Matt LaVere, and local media outlets that brought public attention.
“A big sigh of relief because I didn’t know how we were going to do this project,” Elewaut said. “There is a phrase ‘it takes a village,’ and that’s apropos today.”
In addition to Elewaut, Bolton and LaVere, also appearing at the press conference were Father Maurice Harrigan, current pastor at the mission, Michael Imwalle, chairman of the California Mission Foundation, Ventura Mayor Jeannette Sánchez-Palacios, Ventura Councilmembers Liz Campos and Doug Halter, Ventura City Manager Bill Ayub, and representatives for Carbajal and California Assemblymember Steve Bennett.
Of the nine missions St. Junípero Serra founded in California, Mission San Buenaventura was the last. The mission was designated as a minor basilica in 2020, one of only seven in California.
The mission is located on land native to the Chumash Native Americans, known today as the Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians.
“This mission, this basilica, is really the cultural and historical heart of our downtown,” LaVere said during the press conference. “There are thousands of people who come here every year to visit for historic purposes, and there are thousands of people who call it home every day in their house of worship. We as a community had to do everything possible to support this mission.”
