Designers Suggest Makeovers for San Pedro’s Waterfront

Urban designers unveiled six plans that officials hope would transform San Pedro’s decaying waterfront into a thriving shopping and entertainment district aimed at tourists.

The plans presented this month would create a waterfront promenade stretching 7 1/2 miles from the Vincent Thomas Bridge to the corner of 5th Street and Harbor Boulevard. The development would be financed by the Port of Los Angeles, though officials said they have no price tag and that the concept is still highly preliminary.

Among the proposals for the promenade are restarting a ferry service, building a pier off 7th Street and creating viewing areas where visitors could enjoy bird’s-eye views of the port.

San Pedro is home to one of the largest and busiest ports in the world.

In addition to cargo, 500,000 Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruise line passengers embark there every year.

But the area’s harbor district has declined in recent years. Its once booming Ports O’ Call Village shopping center now looks more like a ghost town.

Many city officials and shop owners say the steady deterioration of the waterfront began with the decline of the economy in the late 1980s and the closing of the Marineland amusement park in 1987 in nearby Rancho Palos Verdes.

For years now, the redevelopment of this port community has been stagnant. But Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn and his sister, Councilwoman Janice Hahn, both residents of San Pedro, have renewed efforts to revamp the area.

“This is the beginning of the effort to completely revitalize the waterfront with the jewel being the promenade,” said Councilwoman Hahn.

Many residents fear that the construction of a promenade would take business away from the nearby downtown area, which officials have been trying to revitalize in recent years.

“The project has to be big enough and important enough to act as a catalyst for the whole San Pedro area, not just the waterfront,” said Janet Schaaf-Guner, a business owner and longtime resident of San Pedro. “If that’s not the case, instead of catapulting the downtown area, it’ll suck up business from it.”

But the councilwoman said it is hoped that bringing people to the waterfront would also revitalize the downtown area.

One of the six proposals calls for extending 7th Street and building a public pier out over the water. It also calls for a memorial plaza with viewing areas.

Another proposal calls for extending the harbor closer to downtown and bringing back a ferry boat to transport visitors. It would also create a civic and cultural park. A third would build a long boardwalk along the water.

The point of the plans, presented to the Port of Los Angeles officials and a group of residents last week, was to allow the urban design firms to show what might be achieved in San Pedro, said a Port of Los Angeles spokeswoman, Teresa Adams.

The decision on what design firm will be hired will be made within a month or two and the actual building of the promenade could take years, she said.

“There are enough plans to reach up to the ceiling if you stack them up,” said Noel Park, a San Pedro resident and president of the San Pedro and Peninsula Homeowners Coalition.

“Having a promenade is a brilliant concept and these consultants know what it takes to get it done. I’m cautiously optimistic.”