Belmont Park Coaster Debate Is at a Critical Turning Point

The history of Belmont Park’s Giant Dipper roller coaster has had as many ups and downs as the serpentine path its tracks carve in the sky above Mission Beach.

In its heyday, the historic 1920s coaster roared at peak capacity, drawing families and tourists alike. Then came the down years: The ride was closed to the public in 1977, the sad victim of neglect, and later came within a heartbeat of being demolished.

Since then, the Giant Dipper has resided in an uneasy purgatory. In recent years, a devoted band of roller-coaster buffs has spent countless hours attempting to restore the weather-beaten amusement ride to its former glory, but the Dipper has remained a coaster without a purpose, its metal tracks silent, its decaying rococo cars still.

Will coaster fanatics ever again enjoy the sudden drops and high-banked thrills of the legendary Giant Dipper? An answer could be provided this week as the San Diego City Council once again takes up the fate of the 62-year-old landmark.

Exemption on Agenda

The council is scheduled to decide today whether the coaster and a nearly completed commercial complex at the nearby Plunge swimming pool are exempt from a prohibition on development at Belmont Park that was approved by voters in November.

On Wednesday, a council committee is scheduled to consider recommending that the city grant approval for exclusive negotiations with a group of amusement park

operators from Santa Cruz who are willing to spend $1 million to fully restore and begin running the Dipper as a commercial enterprise. In addition, the committee could order an environmental review of the coaster’s impact on surrounding neighborhoods.

But the roller coaster has its foes. A sizable band of Mission Beach residents says it doesn’t want to see the Dipper operating again, even though they would be happy to see the coaster saved from the wrecker’s ball and restored. In particular, these residents are fearful that a born-again Giant Dipper would create too much noise and draw too many visitors, putting even more cars on the area’s already traffic-choked streets.

Residents Opposed

A recent survey by the Mission Beach Town Council of nearly 500 residents indicated that more than 50% favored seeing the coaster restored but not operated. Both the Town Council and the area’s community planning group have voted against operation of the Dipper.

Despite the qualms of neighbors, coaster supporters such as Norm Starr, leader of the Save the Coaster committee that has worked hard to get the Dipper back on its feet, remain confident that the wood-frame structure will begin operations again once the dust has settled from the upcoming political jousts.

“It would be a travesty if anything else happened,” Starr said, arguing that the coaster is being “used as a pawn” by residents and politicians still bitter over the commercial development that was approved last year at the Plunge.

Starr contends that the Dipper, a designated national historical landmark that stands at Mission Boulevard and Mission Bay Drive, is being “held hostage by both sides” in the dispute over the Plunge development.

Potential Drawing Card

On one side, the developers of the Plunge project are eager to embrace the coaster because of its potential as a drawing card for their commercial complex, Starr said.

On the other side, he suggested, are residents and politicians such as Mayor Maureen O’Connor, who see the “economic symbiosis” between the commercial project and the Giant Dipper. “Anything that could help the project they look on with great distaste,” Starr said.

Mission Beach leaders, however, say such theories are simply wrong-headed.

“I don’t think that’s fair to say,” said Carol Havlat, chairwoman of the Mission Beach Precise Planning Group. “I don’t think the people are vindictive. They’re not saying, ‘If the developer wants it, well, then we don’t want it.’ There’s no feeling whatsoever of the roller coaster being an issue because it might or might not help the developer.”

Mayor Waiting

A spokesman for O’Connor, meanwhile, said the mayor plans to wait until today’s hearing before taking a stand on whether the Dipper should be allowed to begin running again.

“Obviously, the coaster has been there for many, many years, is a community landmark, and we’re all interested in preserving it,” said Salvatore Giametta, an assistant to O’Connor. “Now we have the issue of operation. We’ll have to wait and see what the community’s desire is on that.”

The decaying ride, which was built in 1925 by San Diego land mogul John Spreckels, seemed headed for demolition as late as 1982, but the Save the Coaster committee managed to win a lease from the city to begin renovation work.

To coaster buffs, the Giant Dipper is a classic. Although not the tallest, fastest or longest in the world, the coaster has long been considered among the most thrilling, Starr said, largely due to its steep turns, which bank up to 53 degrees. Most modern-day coasters have turns with a pitch of less than 30 degrees, he said.

Mountain of Trash

In the years since the Save the Coaster committee won the reprieve, the volunteer group has removed a mountain of trash from the site, put up lights, and painted the coaster’s framework of 6-by-6-inch timbers with a wood preservative. It has also replaced about 20% of the lumber in the structure and bolstered the foundation, using a $150,000 state grant and more than $50,000 in donations.

But the group readily admits that it is far from hammering the coaster into working order. To accomplish that job, the entire bedding of 2-by-2 boards that support the coaster’s half-mile of tracks must be replaced and other extensive renovation work performed, Starr said.

While the coaster committee lacks the sort of financial backing to perform those monumental tasks, the group from Santa Cruz has the economic wherewithal to take on such a project, Starr said.

A partnership made up of the outfit that runs the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, which features its own ancient roller coaster, and an amusement-ride manufacturer located in nearby Scotts Valley, the joint venture is waiting in the wings while the city sorts out the issue.

Would Risk a Million

“We’re not about to get into the middle of any politics among residents, groups or politicians over this project,” said Ed Hutton, general manager of the Santa Cruz Seaside Co., which operates the boardwalk. “But we feel we’d be really capable and competent in running this operation. We’re willing to risk about $1 million if the residents of San Diego want that roller coaster to operate.”

In the meantime, Starr and his group have ruffled some feathers among the Santa Cruz group by selling $25 passes good for a lifetime of free rides on the Giant Dipper.

Hutton and others have been troubled because the promotional effort--which the Save the Coaster committee said was necessary to raise money to pay off the group’s annual $4,000 insurance policy and other costs--threatens to undercut their future revenue should the Dipper get the go-ahead to run again.

While he has promised to honor passes sold before the end of February, Hutton said he has pulled the plug on the promotion. Starr, however, said he hopes to introduce a new promotional card, with the blessing of the Santa Cruz group, that would offer reduced rates of up to 70% on rides for a five-year period.

Seen As a Savior

Such tiffs aside, Starr says he considers the Santa Cruz organization to be “our savior” and hopes the political issues can be settled so the coaster can begin operating by Memorial Day, 1989.

First, however, the council must grant the ride an exemption from Proposition G, the voter-approved ban on development in Belmont Park. Although the Dipper operated for more than 60 years, the past decade of commercial inactivity could pull the legal rug out from under any chance it has of being granted “grandfather status.”

Hal Valderhaug, a deputy city attorney, said the coaster “may have more difficulty” meeting the requirements that would exempt it from Proposition G than would the Plunge development, which is just weeks away from completion.

One thing that could help the coaster, however, is the fact that the council voted a few days before the November election on Proposition G to authorize the future operation of the Giant Dipper.

Issue Called Absurd

Starr, for one, thinks the issue of exemption borders on the absurd.

“You talk about vested rights--that coaster has operated for 60 years,” he said. “The (state) Coastal Commission considers it so vested they don’t even require permits.”

But worried Mission Beach residents do not feel the same way. Helen Duffy, chairwoman of the Town Council, said word is out for residents to attend the meetings this week.

“It’s not only the noise impact. Our prime concern is the environmental impact of additional cars and the lack of parking,” Duffy said. “Residents strongly believe the City of San Diego has to address that traffic impact before it reopens any additional drawing cards at the beach.”