Santa Monica Planning Division Santa Monica Landmarks Tour, 2003.
33. Santa Monica Pier
Foot of Colorado Avenue
Architect: Charles Looff {?}
Designation: 17 August 1976
"The Pier is California's oldest pleasure pier and has the only amusement park on a pier on the west coast. It was originally two separately owned, adjacent piers: the Municipal Pier built in 1909, and the Pleasure Pier, built in 1916 by Charles Looff. Looff said he chose this location because Santa Monica beach "is well-known as one of the finest on the Pacific Coast, it attracts the highest class of people, and transportation facilities are unequaled." Looff was a pioneer amusement entrepreneur who had built Coney Island's first carousel in Brooklyn, New York. In 1909, Looff moved his operation to Long Beach, after realizing the potential for amusement parks along the Southern Californian coastline.
"While the Municipal Pier was for strolling and fishing, Looff constructed amusement and food establishments on the Pleasure Pier, including the exotic Hippodrome building to house the Pier's carousel. Looff sold the Pleasure Pier in 1924 to a corporation which lengthened it that year and built the famed La Monica Ballroom, which soon became home of some of the earliest national radio and television broadcasts. Although the ballroom was demolished in 1963, in its heyday the massive structure could accomodate as many as 10,000 people.
"In 1953, the City took over the Pleasure Pier and leased it to a private operator. Since the 1970s, the Piers have been known collectively as the Santa Monica Pier. The entire Pier was named a County Historical Landmark in 1975. After the 1983 storms that destroyed the west end of the Santa Monica Pier, the structure of the Pier was strengthened."