Historic pier welcomes influx of new blood to boost business at the attraction SEE PIER PAGE 9
SM PIER First it was Soda Jerks. Then came the Trapeze School New York. Now city officials are close to finalizing a lease agreement with a group of investors looking to open a barbecue restaurant here that will feature blues musicians, breathing life back into a space that has sat vacant for over five years.
“We feel and many people in the community feel that holes in the pier are being filled,” said Ben Franz-Knight, executive director of the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corp. (PRC), a non-profit, public benefit corporation made up of business and community leaders who help manage and promote the pier.
The new business opportunities coincide with a decision by the City Council to allow the PRC, which is funded by City Hall, to handle all the marketing and booking of special events at the historic Loof Hippodrome building on the pier, which houses the famous carousel.
The move was intended to give the PRC, which is planning the pier’s 100th anniversary celebration set for next year, more control over promoting the historic site, while at the same time ensuring money made from events is funneled back into PRC coffers to be used for repairs and marketing, Franz- Knight said.
Miriam Mack, manager of economic development for City Hall, said Tuesday that a lease agreement is being prepared so that city officials can finalize negotiations with Soda Jerks, a Pasadena-based restaurant that plans to operate an old-fashioned soda fountain in the carousel building.
The Trapeze School New York, which is slated to open its fourth location at the heart of the pier, on a 9,000 square-foot vacant lot between Pacific Park and the Playland Arcade, has received Landmarks Commission approval and should be signing a lease agreement to set up shop any day now. There is hope that the school, which will be situated on a site that has been vacant for the past 12 years, will be up and running by the end of February.
As for the barbecue and blues restaurant, discussions are still ongoing but Mack is confident that a lease agreement . One of the investors behind the restaurant is the owner of Harvelle’s on Fourth Street, while another is affiliated with the Asian fusion restaurant Tengu on Ocean Avenue.
“We are really pleased to have a group with a lot of experience, and we think that the combination of blues and barbecue is something unique to the pier and something people will really be looking forward to,” Mack said.
While those familiar with the pier are not ready to call the recent influx of businesses a resurgence, they are pleased with the changes they are seeing and the seemingly renewed interest on behalf of City Hall to make the pier a premier destination for those looking to have a little fun and experience the quirky nature of Santa Monica.
“It’s not the Santa Cruz Pier or Stearns Wharf (in Santa Barbara). It’s the Santa Monica Pier,” Chris Volaski of the Santa Monica Pier Lessees Association. “It has had a history of being a place where you can kick back and enjoy yourself. It’s always been funky and I think most of the businesses try to keep that in mind and I think you can see that in the types of businesses that are here and are planning to come here. We definitely have diversity.”
Others on the pier credit the increased police presence, the arrival of Pacific Park, and the investment City Hall has made in restoring the pier with bringing some of the luster back to the historic attraction.
“I love it that new businesses are coming here,” said Marlene Gordon, operator of Playland Arcade. “It’s better for all of us — new people come down and experience new things. As soon as these businesses open, I’ll be the first one to welcome them.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 23, 2008. Read the original PDF.