Jeffrey Stanton Santa Monica Pier A History from 1875 to 1990, Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1990, 1980s
Chapter 6: City Owned Pier (1974-1990)
". . . Richard Koch, who owned the Westwind Sailing Club and School . . .
". . ." p. 155
". . .
"Santa Monica didn't flinch. City Manager Charles Kent McClain on September 5th formally terminated the lease with the Carousel Corporation . . .
". . . Acting Mayor Ruth Goldway said, "you can't expect private parties to spend money on new pier projects unless the city makes a commitment to repair the pier" . . .
". . ." p. 156
Carousel restoration p. 157
"After months of painstaking work, the doors of the carousel buillding reopened on June 6, 1981 to allow 275 members of the National Carousel Association to preview the restored carousel and band organ. NCA president John Hayek presented the organization's Preservation Award to Santa Monica's Mayor Ruth Goldway.
"The carousel's official grand opening was on August 14, 1981 . . . included celebrities Jane Fonda, Herb Albert [Alpert?], Daniel Travanti . . .
"Santa Monica recruited and hired Susan Mullin to manage the pier in August 1981. . .
". . .
"In September 1981, the State Coastal Conservancy granted $30,000 . . . toward restoration . . . with the condition the city name a citizen's advisory committee . . .
"The pier task force, initially chaired by activist Ernie Powell . . .
". . .
". . . [Pier ]Task Force chairman, Paul Silvern . . .
". . .
"Winter storms along the Santa Monica Bay were nothing new . . . the pier's lower deck had been damaged three times in the previous ten years. But the storm that began building up during the wee hours of the morning on Thursday, January 27, 1983 not only had huge churning breakers but occurred during the year's highest tides . . ." p. 157
"The swells at sea were only eight to ten feet at most, but their sixteen to twenty foot faces that broke on shore rapidly eroded sections of the beach from Malibu to Redondo Beach.
". . . Shortly before 9:20 a.m., while hundreds of sightseers atop Palisades Park watched in the driving rain, the northwest corner of the pier broke off and fell into the pounding sea . . .
". . . Crowd control was a problem throughout the day and evening as the area was as crowded as during the Fourth of July . . .
". . . City Manager John Alshuler . . .
". . .
"Southern California beaches were designated a federal emergency area . . . Meanwhile a huge thirty ton crane was moved onto the pier's ocean end to remove the damaged lower deck.
". . . a second storm, more powerful than the first . . . 40 mph winds and fifteen foot waves and coincided with the year's extreme high tides.
"The storm built up quickly in the late afternoon, too late to move the crane off the pier before quitting time . . . The first hint of trouble came at 8:30 pm when the pier began vibrating and beams began to fall into the raging surf. Members of the City Council were informally meeting in the Moby's Dock Restaurant when Don Arnett, chief of Parks and Recreation, ordered it closed . . .
"As the huge waves began to pound relentlessly against the weakened pilings, they snapped one by one until the huge thirty ton crane toppled into the surf at 10:45 pm. The sea then used the crane as a battering ram to smash the pier further and further back towards shore. Within fifteen minutes, just before the tide reached its peak at 11:06 pm, Peterson's boat launch crane, the Santa Monica Fishing building, a rest room, 160 feet of pier deck, three cars, and a large refrigerator truck were swept into the sea.
" . . .
"Damage to the pier was many times worse than from the first storm . . . Debris was stacked ten foot high on the beach south of the pier all the way to Pico Blvd. . . .
". . . President Reagan surveyed the damage from a U.S. Marine helicopter. The coast was declared a federal emergency area for the second time . . .
"Assemblyman Tom Hayden and County Supervisor Dean Dana . . .
". . . Mayor Ruth Goldway . . .
". . ." p. 159
". . . The Pier Restoration Corporation, a non-profit [which Christine Reed and David Epstein voted against]" p. 160
"The city, in an effort to show the public that the business end of the Santa Monica Pier still stood, scheduled . . . "Save the Santa Monica Pier Week" . . .
"The opening ceremony on May 23rd featured thirty Arabian horses and numerous celebrities. Mayor Ken Edwards welcomed a crowd of five hundred . . .
"The pier hosted thousands who wandered through the art exhibit and crafts fair, watched street entertainers, or listened to the twenty bands . . . a Baby Contest; Pie Eating Contest; Build a Pier contest; hoola hoops and boogie board contests, and a kite festival staged by Colors of the Wind.
". . . a film festival that featured movies that were filmed on the pier: Elmer Gantry, 1960; Inside Daisy Clover, 1965, The Sting, 1973 and 1941, 1979. In the La Monica tent, dancing. A Salute to the Pier, by Ry Cooder, bluesman, singer Christine McVie from Fleetwood Mac, Billy Burnett's Band with drummer Mick Fleetwood, Blue Indigo, 50's swing, and an all-star comedy show led by Buck Henry. On Sunday , the L.A. Chamber Ballet and Ollie Mitchell's Sunday Band." p. 161
". . .
"On September 13, 1983, the City Council appointed twelve candidates to an expanded board. David O'Malley, who was later elected Chariman, was an architect and president of Welton Beckett Associates, Herb Katz was an architect, and Mary Houha, was a planner with the L.A. City Community Development Agency. Local businessmen included David Anderson, president of General Telephone, Chris Harding, an attorney, and Wayne Wilson, a management consultant. Other members were Ruth Goldway, former Mayor of Santa Monica, Judy Abdo, Ernie Powell, Henry Custis, and William Spurgin."
". . ." p. 162
". . . in January 1984 . . .
"Sinbad's restaurant was physically moved back forty feet, then forward forty feet to repair the pilings beneath it . . . Few realized that Sinbad's had been moved to its present location from its old location next to the billiard's building when the La Monica Ballroom was built in 1924.
". . . The PRC board selected Gail E. Markens [as director of the Pier Restoration Corporation] . . . " p. 163
". . . design contest team winner, March 1983, Moore, Ruble, and Yudall, with the landscape architectural firm Campbell and Campbell, proposed a 5000 square foot children's park with a concrete boat and dragon, a two hundred seat bleacher structure to accomodate volleyball spectatators, and an extension of the pier deck east of the carousel connected by stairs and ramps to the Promenade below. Metal framed pavilions, would flank the bleachers . . .
". . . " p. 164
". . .
". . . the carousel managed to open in mid-August on the closing weekend of Los Angeles' 1984 Summer Olympics.
". . . Roy Cruickshank operated Skipper's, a fast food business in the northwest corner of the carousel building . . .
". . . [during renovations] he operated out of a popcorn cart in front of the carousel . . .
". . . Ernie Powell commented, "I'm of the theory that tells us a stronger pier is all we need. That's a less expensive way to go."
". . . " p. 165
". . .
"The Pier Restoration Corporation, in hopes of luring a more upscale crowd to the pier that summer, sponsored a series of free "Twilight Concerts" on Thursday evenings . . . in a blue and white tent on the approximate site of the old La Monica Ballroom . . . on June 20, 1985 with the Unlisted Jazz Band. It was followed by a chamber music concert by the New West Brass Quintet. The most popular nights were those that featured dancing with music furnished by jazz groups such as the Rhythm Kings. The concert series eventually became an annual summer event with the emphasis on a series of twilight dances: swing, country-western, reggae, roaring 1920s, folk and 1950s rock n' roll.
". . ." p. 166
"The Carousel Park opened on June 6, 1986. Ray Camack Shows set up a small children's amusement zone adjacent to it behind the carousel. It featured an Eli 12 Ferris Wheel, a super slide and three platform kiddie rides. . . .
"The crowds that jammed Santa Monica's beaches for the annual Fourth of July fireworks display became larger and more unmanageable throughout the decade. The crowd of 500,000 that was drawn to the beach on Friday evening July 4, 1986 created an unsafe atmosphere that two hundred police and civilian badged employees couldn't control. Some fighting began as early as 3 pm in the beach parking lots, then escalated after the pier fireworks ended at 9:30 pm. Sgt. Barry Barcroft, the event watch commander, reported that most of the assaults seemed to be a result of gangs of up to ten, jumping, beating, and stabbing others. There were reports of several shootings, seven knifings, and a total of nearly two hundred fights. One victim was struck and killed by two motorcycles in a hit and run accident. The police, dealing with a whole army of attempted murders and assaults with deadly weapons, made fifty-nine arrests.
"The gang problem near the pier remained a persistent problem, especially during the annual spring school vacation. While the college crowd preferred to go to Palm Springs, gang members from South-Central Los Angeles preferred to gather on the Santa Monica Pier during the day and in the parking lot just north of the pier in the evening . . . Santa Monica responded in 1987 with beefed up police patrols at the pier and in the adjacent parking lots."
"The Pier Corporation . . . the shooting gallery . . . On May 5, 1987 gave lessee John Brown sixty days to vactate. [He] had been operating it for sixteen years . . ." p. 167
"[Brown] claimed the city wanted to evict him to bring in a more upscale business . . . Santa Monica Municipal Court issued a court order and the shooting gallery closed June 21st.
". . .
"Summer 1987 festivities began with a dawn Fouth of July fireworks show. Surprisingly over 50,000 spectators awoke several hours before dawn to attend the unusual event. The pier, beach, and Palisades Park were packed with spectators. The peaceful event grew in popularity over the years until more than 200,000 people jammed Santa Monica to watch the fireworks . . ." p. 169
"The pier's third annual Thursday night Twilight Dance series began on July 9th with a performance by the Rhythm Kings. Over 5000 people listened and danced . . .
". . .
". . . approval process by the City's Architectural Review and Landmarks committees, Planning Commisssion, and City Council.
"On November 1st Gail Markens gave notice . . .
"Construction on the Newcomb Pier began in early November 1987 . . .
"On January 20, 1988 a brutal winter storm with ten foot high surf struck the Santa Monica Bay . . .
". . . The project was completed in August 1988.
"The pier merchants . . . charged that the plan would increase rents, create parking problems and force out current merchants and their lower income patrons.
". . .
"Councilmen Herb Katz and David Finkel . . . sought to give preference to existing pier merchants . . .
". . ." p. 170
". . .
". . . Santa Monica and the Pier Restoration Corporation's Board . . . chose John Gilchrist . . . as director of the Pier Restoration Corporation.
"Gilchrist had lived in Los Angeles before moving to Miami in 1972. He had worked with the architectural firm Victor Gruen Associates from 1955-1963 and was an Associate Professor of Architecture at USC from 1963-1971.
". . ." p. 172
"Details about how the pier was constructed on pp. 173 and 174
". . . April 6, 1990 dedication . . .
". . . Mayor Dennis Zane said, "In Santa Monica, we like to say that the pier is the soul of Santa Monica, and the further the pier stretches to the sea the more soul we have."
"Judith Meister, the pier's manager . . .
". . . Councilwoman Christine Reed . . .
"City officials then honored the woman who they felt was most insturmental in saving the Pier, Joan Crowne, a former pier restaurant owner was presented with the first "Santa Monica Pier Prize" in commemoration of her 'dedication and devotion' to the pier. She took out a second mortgage on her home to help finance the 1973 save-the-pier effort and was later forced to sell the house.
". . . " p. 174
". . .
"Russ Barnard's Long Walk Ldt. . . . envisions a first-class restaurant similar to his Tavern on Main in Ocean Park . . .
" . . ." p. 176
[P. 146 1978 photo of Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke pitching pennies on the Santa Monica Pier. [P. 147 1975, photo of fishermen on the Municipal Pier's lower deck, with Boat Rentals, Moby's Dock (cocktails, lunches); Sinbad's (cocktails; dinner); and the Holiday Inn looming at the top of the Pier.]
{P. 148 Bait Boats, New Sunbeam and the Nordica, owned by Pete Peterson, were anchored in Santa Monica Harbor, 1980}
{Pp. 153, 154, 155 1983 storm destroying the pier, with the Santa Monica Port Cafe on the lower deck.}
{P. 167 1989 Temporary trestle pier built to repair the Municipal pier and in the backgrround Holiday Inn, the Santa Monica Freeway, and Rand Corporation, blocking City Hall's view of the ocean, Bambrick owned Fish Restaurant; Hot Dog on a Stick original location.}