‘We want to show the community that you can have a good time in your own little town.’

It’s been a while since San Pedro--now celebrating its centennial--was a rough-and-tumble port town with more than its share of waterfront dives and tattoo parlors.

In case you haven’t picked up on the change, an array of merchants, restaurants, artists and entertainers will be showing off the town’s new face on Saturday during the fourth annual San Pedro Street Faire.

The fair “is really to showcase the accomplishments that are under way,” said Nancy Taylor, acting director of the San Pedro Revitalization Corp., a nonprofit corporation working to revitalize old downtown San Pedro through street improvements, new building facades and business promotions.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the fair--expected to attract more than 15,000 people--will take over 6th Street from Pacific Avenue to Centre Street. Community organizations and businesses will occupy 110 canopied booths running down the middle of the street.

A large tent at 6th and Mesa Avenue will be transformed into an international foods court by 25 San Pedro restaurants. Visitors can satisfy their appetites with everything from Australian roast lamb to German bratwurst and Italian canoli to snow cones and cotton candy.

New this year is an antique alley with 22 booths on Nelson Street between 5th and 6th streets, as well as an arts and crafts fair in the restored Arcade Building at 479 W. 6th.

Pam Roehrig, owner of a jewelry and gift store specializing in hand-made items, said she came up with the crafts show to give exposure to artisans and to the 64-year-old arcade.

Stuffed animals, porcelain figurines, Christmas decorations and hand-made jewelry will be displayed and sold at the arcade.

“The fair has a party spirit, with a lot of local people who display their wares,” Roehrig said.

Tours are also a part of the fair, with free trolley rides through downtown and the harbor area every half-hour during fair hours from stops at 6th and Centre and 6th and Pacific. The tours “will be highlighting all of the Los Angeles Harbor Department projects, from Cabrillo Marina to the new World Cruise Center,” Taylor said.

New this year is a tour of the 44-acre Ft. MacArthur, which is the remainder of a much-larger military preserve opened 100 years ago. Since 1982, it has been used for military housing.

In a 20-minute free tour, visitors will see the fort’s old parade ground, 5-inch cannons that still work, the former brig and the officers’ row. Two Air Force minibuses, with military guides, will pick people up once an hour during fair hours at 6th and Pacific and 6th and Centre.

The Ft. MacArthur tour was arranged by Susan Wittmack, a San Pedro architect who lives at the fort with her husband, Randle Bunner, an Air Force major. “I went to my husband’s boss, who said there were no problems opening up the fort,” she said. “He said it was a great idea.”

The revitalization corporation sponsors the fair, along with the Downtown Business Assn., Harbor-area Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores and the Los Angeles Department of Community Development.

“The fair has attracted interest in San Pedro in a positive way from throughout the South Bay,” said Ray Howell, owner of the vintage Warner Grand Theatre. “For a long time, San Pedro has had a port image, but it has come into its own as a resort-oriented, close-knit community.”

Said Anne Gusha of the 80-year-old Williams’ Bookstore: “We want to show the community that we’ve got a downtown here and you can have a good time in your own little town.”