PUBLIC PLACES : Santa Monica: Bringing Back Fun at the Pier

Visitors to the Santa Monica Municipal Pier can no longer take a ride on the Whirlwind Dipper or the Blue Streak Racer, but they may soon be able to enjoy a new “fun zone” and view boats absent from the area for more than a decade.

The coastal landmark was built in 1909, the heyday of so-called pleasure piers. Most of its counterparts have been lost to winter storms, fires, and decay, but the Santa Monica pier has held on. Since the pier was rescued from demolition in the 1970s, its restoration has been a slow process that took on increased importance in 1982-’83, when a winter storm swept away a third of the pier and the breakwater that made it a safe harbor.

The next improvement will be the “fun zone.” A private operator is set to build new rides, including a roller coaster and 85-foot Ferris wheel, seaward of where current rides are now located. One backer describes it as “a family attraction, not a thrill park like Magic Mountahin.” It is scheduled to open in the summer of 1996.

Boaters will have to wait to see if Congress in September approves an Army Corps of Engineers plan for a 900-foot breakwater. The plan, which now includes 12 moorings and docking facilities for fishing and pleasure boating, would require $5 million in federal funds and $1.4 million from the city. If all goes well, construction could begin in 1997. *

JOHN GILCREST

Executive director, Pier Restoration Corp., a nonprofit group set up by the city to oversee the pier

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The pier has a tradition and, in many ways, we’re replicating what it was at the turn of the century.

We went through public workshops and developed a plan. But as we moved forward, times changed. Some people said we were making a teen-age attraction out of it, while kids complained there was no place for them to go except hang around street corners. The approval process reduced development by 50%. We want (to end up with something) a grandmother and a small infant can enjoy.

The UCLA marine science department is finalizing a plan for a learning aquarium under the carousel that will open this summer. A developed aquarium will go up on the deck in a second phase.

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PEGGY CLIFFORD

Writer and pier archivist, Santa Monica

The first workshops in 1982 envisioned a simple, quiet pier, with small businesses and games for little children. At the community workshop in 1992, there were people against overdevelopment of the pier, the roller coaster and the number of big restaurants with bars. They were concerned with increases in traffic and inadequate parking and felt it was going to attract too many people.

However, though I disagree on the “fun zone,” I have enormous respect for efforts to remake the pier.

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GARY GALLINOT

Santa Monica police sergeant and chief’s adjutant

We were involved in the restoration from the beginning. We talked about such things as lighting and parking-lot loitering ordinances. Attendant parking has helped a great deal. We now close all the beach lots, except next to the pier, after dark. That’s had a dramatic impact.

On a hot day, we see gang members coming from all parts of the county. They may see someone from a rival gang and that can escalate into violence. (But) gang-related crime on the pier has dropped significantly. Since 1989, it’s fallen from 10 incidents to only two in 1994. We now have a special policing district, the City Council hired extra officers, and a police substation will open on the pier this summer.