Balboa Pavilion is all wrapped up

Paul Clinton

Talk about an odd job.

Exterminators blanketed the angled walls and steeple-top roof of

Balboa Pavilion on Monday to eradicate a dry-wood termite infestation.

Workers draped the 96-year-old Newport Beach landmark with 80,000

square feet of pink-and-white vinyl tarps so they could spray Vikane gas

-- the trade name for sulfuryl fluoride -- into the structure, which was

closed to visitors at 8 a.m.

Owners of the pavilion’s quaint shops and eateries also shuttered

their businesses.

Chem Free Exterminating of Long Beach was hired for the job, which

presented more than one challenge, including wind gusts of more than 20

mph and tarps that had to be tacked down at the water’s edge.

Among the businesses affected by the fumigation were Tale of the Whale

Restaurant, Catalina Passenger Service, Newport Bay Harbor Cruises and

Davey’s Locker Sportfishing.

Many of the shops will reopen at 9 a.m. Wednesday. A recorded message

at Tale of the Whale said the restaurant, a favorite of many seafood

lovers, would be closed through Thursday.

Pavilion owners also turned off the Victorian cupola’s 1,400-bulb

light string, which illuminates Newport Bay at nighttime. The lights are

expected to be switched back on by the end of the month.

The Balboa Pavilion was built in 1905 as the terminal for the Pacific

Electric Railway’s Red Cars. It is a California landmark and listed in

the National Registry of Historic Places.