Manhattan Beach : Many Eager for Finished Streetscape

An ambitious, seven-month downtown improvement project that reduced sidewalks and streets to rubble and chased away many shoppers is nearing completion in Manhattan Beach.

Although some landscaping and posting of signs remain to be done, officials say the major work on the project, known as Streetscape, has been completed, with new sidewalks, sewers, street lights and curbs in place.

And not a bit too soon for merchants such as Tom King, owner of Jo’s Candy on Manhattan Beach Boulevard.

“We barely did survive, and I mean barely,” said King, who estimated his store’s sales have dropped 40% compared to the same period last year. “We’ve been around some 40 years, and it was tough.

$5.3-Million Project

“It was like remodeling a house multiplied by a hundred.”

The $5.3-million project was undertaken to spruce up the downtown area and to repair streets and replace decades-old sewer lines and storm drains.

But when the heavy equipment moved in three days after New Year’s, customers began to move out, some merchants said. Many complained that by attempting to do so much work at one time, the city was driving them out of business.

For instance, a 5-block stretch between Manhattan Beach Boulevard and 15th Street was closed to all daytime traffic for three weeks in January. Even after it opened, traffic had to inch through construction equipment and crews.

Should Have Been Phased In

In retrospect, City Manager David Thompson said, the project probably should have been spread out over a longer period, even though it would have been harder on the contractor and more expensive for the city.

“I would phase it in over a two- or three-year period,” Thompson said. “It would have been easier on the businesses. . . . And the motorists would not have been hit so much.”

Despite the hardships, some merchants said they believe the project was a worthy one. The fancy, blue tile sidewalks and other improvements should give the downtown an identity, they said.

“I think it is going to give merchants an extra added advantage,” said Don Deziel, who for 37 years has operated a downtown jewelry store.

Said restaurant owner Chet Naylor, who heads the Downtown Manhattan Beach Business and Professional Assn.: “We’ll forget about the hassles in a year or so, and we’ll want to do something else.”