ESCONDIDO: Sikh temple nearly complete after years of delays

Golden domes in project were controversial in 1998

By DAVID GARRICK - Staff Writer | Sunday, October 12, 2008 7:07 PM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- After more than 10 years of delays, construction is nearly complete on a Sikh Temple in western Escondido that was unpopular with neighbors when the City Council approved the project in 1998.

Nearby residents had objected primarily to large golden domes featured in the temple's architecture, but city and Sikh officials said Friday that neighborhood opposition has dissipated over time. The temple is near the southeastern corner of West Valley Parkway and Avenida del Diablo, just up the hill from Home Depot.

Congregational leaders said Friday that they expect the $1.5 million temple to host its first services in late November. They said financial problems were the primary cause of the long delay in construction.

The congregation's roughly 500 members have met twice a month at Del Dios Middle School for the past decade, said Baljit Toor, the group's chairman.

"It's great that it's almost done," Toor said Friday. "People have asked me many times when it will be finished."

The first phase of the project will feature a 500-square-foot worship hall, a large kitchen, a room for the spiritual leader, and two restrooms, said Toor. No schedule has been set for the second phase, which is to include a dining hall and Sunday school facilities for children, he said.

The golden domes, which will be installed soon, will be slightly less shiny than those approved in 1998, said city planner Jay Paul.

The congregation has also tweaked a few other parts of the design over the years to keep up with changing building codes, fire regulations and other issues, he said. Those changes, in addition to the financial hurdles, helped delay the project, he said.

"They're not professionals at this, so some of it has been a learning curve for them," said Paul.

The controversy began when congregation leaders decided to scrap plans for a campus featuring Southwestern-style architecture that would have fit well within the community. The leaders said they added the domes and some other features to be more consistent with their East Indian culture.

Back then, critics said the domes would be visible from 20 miles away and would damage property values. Supporters, including a majority of the City Council, said churches belong in neighborhoods and that the city should not dictate what religious buildings look like.

The Sikh religion dates to the mid-1400s and teaches the beliefs and messages of 10 gurus, or saints. About 25 million people worldwide make up the religion, including a few thousand in the San Diego area. A Sikh temple was constructed in Poway about four years ago.

Toor said the Escondido congregation serves mostly families in Escondido and Temecula, where there is no Sikh temple. He said many of the Temecula members are former Escondido residents who moved away.

Toor said the temple was paid for with roughly $900,000 in donations and a $600,000 loan. Land was only a small portion of the cost because the congregation bought the 1.3-acre parcel for $120,000 in the early 1990s, when land was relatively cheap, he said.

The recent road-widening project on West Valley Parkway makes completion of the project well-timed, said Paul. The wider road and a new stoplight at Valley and Avenida del Diablo have improved traffic flow in the area, he said.

Contact staff writer David Garrick at (760) 740-5468 or dgarrick@nctimes.com.

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