CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Peoples Temple OKd for Demolition

Demolition of the earthquake-damaged Peoples Temple, former headquarters of a sect headed by the Rev. Jim Jones, was approved by the San Francisco Planning Commisssion over the objections of preservationists. The current owner of the three-story brick building, the Korean Central Presbyterian Church, said it could not afford an estimated $3.5 million to save the 85-year-old structure. City engineers called for demolition of the building after the October earthquake caused a wall to collapse. The Peoples Temple met in the building in the 1960s and early 1970s before moving to Guyana, where Jones and more than 900 of his followers died in a mass murder-suicide.