Coastline Project May Finally Surface

After years of delays and controversy, an Ohio-based developer on Wednesday announced plans to break ground next week on a $130-million waterfront project billed as the cornerstone of Long Beach’s effort to remake itself into a West Coast Coney Island.

But word of impending construction on the last stretch of undeveloped land left on the Long Beach coastline drew mixed responses in a city that has grown weary of broken promises.

“I can recall at least three previous groundbreaking announcements,” said Vice Mayor Dan Baker, whose district includes the site. “I’ll believe it when I see bulldozers moving dirt.”

The 380,000-square-foot project, dubbed Pike at Rainbow Harbor, formerly was known as the Queensway Bay Project. It is to include restaurants and retail shops, a movie theater, an antique carousel and a suspended footbridge on 18 acres of city-owned land south of Ocean Boulevard between the Long Beach Convention Center and the Aquarium of the Pacific.

“We’ve been waiting for this along time,” said Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neil. “This is the linchpin that will bring the dredging of the harbor, the building of the aquarium and enlargement of our convention center together.”

Developers Diversified Realty Corp., which already has invested more than $15 million in planning and preliminary studies on the project, hopes to have it finished by August 2003, more than two years behind schedule.

Long Beach officials predict the Pike will eventually generate $100 million a year in sales, and about $1 million a year in tax revenues for the city, which is committed to building an adjacent 2,200-car parking structure.

“We and the city have worked tirelessly to bring this project to fruition,” said Developers Diversified official Rod Chisessi. “It completes the Queensway Bay master plan and will generate significantly more visitors, and about 1,000 full- and part-time local construction jobs.”

The Pike, which will be about 70,000 square feet smaller than originally envisioned, is the centerpiece of a waterfront revival proposed in 1992 as a way to attract visitors back to once-beleaguered downtown Long Beach. Many other elements of that plan have been built.

Of particular concern with the Pike project is its impact on the struggling $120-million aquarium, which has suffered a steady decline in attendance and revenues since its robust opening in 1998.

Just a week ago, Aquarium of the Pacific President and Chief Executive Warren Iliff announced he will retire in June. The announcement came the same day that the city provided $700,000 to help the aquarium make a $3.3-million bond payment.

Iliff will be replaced by Jerry Schubel, former head of Boston’s New England Aquarium, who has plans to reverse the aquarium’s fortunes with a variety of improvements.

In the meantime, the aquarium is counting on its newest attraction, Shark Lagoon, and the Pike’s roughly 50 tenants to draw more paying customers. The project’s tenant roster will be announced at the ceremonial groundbreaking next Tuesday.

The Pike, which was named after a bustling amusement zone that existed at the same location from 1905 to 1979, has had a tortured history. Twice in recent years, the developer has been granted last-minute extensions by the city after missing deadlines to begin construction on the project, which is opposed by downtown merchants and environmentalists who would prefer to see the site become a seaside park.

Two years ago, the project was put on hold after two major movie chains that were considered anchor tenants, Edwards Theaters and later Resort Theaters of America Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection. The firm found a third operator, Crown Theaters, to commit to opening a 14-screen cinema.

Last September, the state Lands Commission removed an obstacle by allowing construction of a multi-screen theater on public tidelands. In exchange, the state will get 10 acres of land close to the Los Angeles River in Long Beach.

Now, some local officials fear that a pending lawsuit filed by California Earth Corps, which claims the city and Lands Commission failed to perform adequate environmental reviews, could hamper the city’s plans to sell $43 million in bonds to support the project.

“This project will create a critical mass for us on the waterfront,” City Manager Henry Taboada said. “But I’m not going to shout victory,” he added, “until I see a shovel in the ground.”