YOU CAN’T VISIT
Published in the September 13, 2025 edition.
No one is visiting the Bishop Visitors Center.
The doors on the distinctive A Frame are locked, the lights are off, and a sign on the door says, in bold red letters, “CLOSED.” Then comes the explanation: “This office is temporarily closed due to facility-related issues. We’re sorry we missed you and will reopen as soon as possible.”
The tape job on the closed sign belies that promise. Layers of tape on all four sides of the sign do not give off a vibe that says the closure is temporary and reopening is in the future for the long-time home of the Bishop Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau.
The “facility issues” are more than skin deep. The large additions holding chamber staff offices on the south side of the A Frame were red-tagged and vacated earlier this summer after a quick inspection. An in-depth engineering report released Friday Sept. 5 concluded the second story of the A Frame also needed to be vacated since it, too, is unsafe to use for offices or as storage space.
That second story is directly above the Visitor Center public reception area that occupies the bulk of the A Frame building. The cozy space contains souvenirs, brochures and local information, supplemented by advice and suggestions from Chamber staff and volunteers.
Chamber Director Tawni Thompson was more than a tad peeved that the city did not immediately notify the chamber of the report’s recommendation to abandon the second story offices. She and another staffer had been working upstairs. Once she got word the second story was unsafe to occupy and could create a dangerous situation for the staff and the public on the first floor, the chamber voluntarily closed the building and visitor center. Thompson and crew are now working from home.
Despite the public clamor to save the A Frame, located at 690 North Main Street, directly across from Schat’s Bakkery, the chamber is in escrow for a new building on South Main Street.
After that initial inspection, the city contracted Wood Rodgers for a more in-dept engineering report. The firm’s Senior Engineer Eric Toschi, P.E., took four hours to inspect the A Frame. He reviewed architectural drawings, structural aspects of the building and the foundation. The report says the overall condition of the building “is poor and may be nearing the end of its service life,” In general, the building and foundations are structurally unsound.
The report presents three options and notes all would be pricey and challenging to complete.
First is to tear down the large addition/office space on the south side of the A Frame and the small addition on the east end of the A Frame. That would leave the A Frame only. Second would be to partially remove the south addition and leave the A Frame. Tearing down the whole structure is option three. No cost estimates were presented for any of the options.
The report notes that about 85% of the building would have to be demolished even under the first two options. Retrofitting or remodeling the remaining A Frame would also be costly to bring the building up to current building and safety codes. “Retrofitting an existing building, especially one that is over 50 years old, is inherently difficult and often unpredictable,” Toschi said.
The chamber was notified in June that it had to vacate the building due to safety concerns. The city has allowed the chamber to occupy the A Frame for decades without paying rent or utilities. A public outcry erupted condemning the city for “evicting” the Chamber. Residents also asked the city to find a way to save the A Frame, a unique local landmark which has been a feature of North Main Street for about 50 years.
The city council noted previously that any work on the A Frame would have to be considered based on the cost of the repairs or upgrades, the possible future uses of the building and, most importantly, city funding priorities.
The city owns the building, but it’s on leased land in the Bishop City Park owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) , which puts LADWP into the equation. Any work, rehab or demolition, would also require an environmental analysis and permits from state agencies such as the Department of Fish and Wildlife, since the south addition hangs over the South Fork of Bishop Creek, which runs through the park.
The A Frame’s future was not on the Sept. 8 city council meeting agenda. Five residents once again urged the city to repair and upgrade the A Frame and requested an agenda item to address the fate of the building and possible alternatives.
