Fantasy Designs Proposed for Pier

Engineers will design the new Horseshoe Pier, but it doesn’t take an expert to come up with ideas on how it should look.

Redondo Beach officials thought community participation might encourage more support for the $6-million reconstruction project to restore the pier, nearly destroyed by ocean storms and a fire last year.

More than 200 residents responded to the Pier Reconstruction Committee’s solicitation for ideas. Harbor Director Sheila Schoettger hailed the concepts as “wonderful and creative” and said they will be considered when engineers begin the design work later this year.

One of the most ambitious presentations was bound in large album covers and titled “The Phoenix Factor.” It came from L. R. Smith, who proposed a Victorian or turn-of-the-century style pier, featuring a 25,000-square-foot park with a gazebo bandstand, gardens, a waterfall, pond and colonnade.

Smith suggested dedicating the new pier to the pioneering Dominguez family and concluded with a poem reflecting his vision of a “more lovely production” rising from the flames of the May, 1988, fire.

Brian Beziat wants to see the pier reconstructed in the form of a big “R” for Redondo, and he’d also like a row of “dime telescopes” placed along one side. (Most tourist telescopes cost a quarter these days.)

The centerpiece of Gary Alexander’s design is a round, open-air stage so that restaurant patrons could be entertained while they dined. He said the setting is similar to one used at Walt Disney World in Florida.

M. Calzada envisions a serpentine structure that would curl out from a three-tier center section to touch the existing piers and the shore. He included a color drawing of his creation as seen from the sea.

Robert Foley suggests two large tropical gardens be planted at the center of the new Horseshoe, with beacon lights installed on the ocean side and space for cultural centers, museums and entertainment. Rick Belker envisions a new pier shaped like a gigantic wave.

Schoettger said the ideas should stimulate the imaginations of the professional designers, and some might be incorporated in one form or another in the final plan. Most of the contributors definitely favor rebuilding the pier, she said, but their plans on how to balance commercial development with adequate space for public use differ.

Eight-year-old Gary Fishette apparently intended to immortalize the spectacular fire that destroyed the pier. He suggests adding a structure that perpetually shoots out flames.