Community profiles is a weekly series that appears each Monday and delves into the people
SANTA MONICA PIER — When the big storm of 1983 battered the old pier, ripping loose its wooden pilings and leaving them strewn across the beach, Chris Volaski didn’t consider leaving.
Like so many other merchants on the Santa Monica Pier, she rebuilt. And today, after more than 37 years as owner of the Oatman Rock Shop, Volaski remains a daily fixture here.
Volaski, 62, a native of Georgia who was raised in Chicago, hopes to see a multi-million dollar breakwater built around the pier in her lifetime, a goal officials have long discussed. She’s also hopes a planned miniature golf course and year-round outdoor concerts will attract more visitors.
The pier has suffered from the drop in tourism since 9-11 and struggles to attract locals, especially with the Third Street Promenade and Main Street just blocks away. She also readily admits there are other forces to contend with.
“We live by the weather,” she said last week, sitting on a plastic chair in front of her husband John’s bait shop, wearing a heavy sweater and sunglasses on a cold, overcast afternoon.
Her little shop, once situated on the lower deck at the end of the pier, was one of the first targeted by the wicked ’83 storm. Now, it sits nearer the base of the pier. She’s seen the formation of the Pier Restoration Committee.
Over the years, Volaski has watched the pier evolve, witnessing the city work to clean up a large homeless population, as well as the demise of such landmarks as the Boathouse, a popular family-run restaurant now slated to become a corporate chain.
Fourteen years ago, Volaski married John, who owns the Santa Monica Pier Bait and Tackle shop at the end of the pier. John, also a fixture on the pier for decades, runs the shop with Volaski’s son Mannie, an acclaimed fisherman who in 2002 reeled in a record 44.7-pound Halibut in the Santa Monica Bay.
The Daily Press sat down with the proud mother of five on the trusty pier and asked her about its’ past and future, and how she ended up on the edge of the West.
The big storm of 1983 — what was that like?
“I think the only word that comes to my mind is devastation. It was quite a sight, to watch the pier go down, from up on the hill... And you know, that’s an act of God, so your insurance doesn’t cover anything...
“It was like a bad movie, to see pilings up on the beach, in the sand, something that I think one can’t even visualize if you weren’t here, firsthand. It was not a good feeling.”
You’ve watched the pier rebuild, and were around for the formation of the Pier Restoration Committee, which runs the pier. How would you like to see things out here continue to evolve in coming years?
“I think that it would be awfully nice if we could have a breakwater where we could have sportfishing — that’s a hot topic around town.
“I don’t know if I’ll see it in my life, but I’d like to, and hopefully in my kids’ lifetimes we’ll get that ambiance out here, with the boats moored...
“I would like to be able to tell someone, ‘Yes, you can get a boat here’... And I think at some point we’ll see it happen. Maybe I’m just being an old fool, but I don’t think so.
“I think, as with everything in this town, persistence and patience — all in due time, I think it will come about... There are different members of the City Council that support it. But it’s costly.”
Visitors to the pier have long complained about the homeless population around the pier. Do you think the city’s done enough on that issue?
“I think, over the years, that I have certainly seen improvement. We don’t have the homeless down here that we had 10 or 15 years ago. It’s better. And that may be because of all the different shelters and whatnot...
“We do have some people — and they don’t want help, they want to be left alone. Maybe they’ll go in and take a shower and get a meal every once in awhile, but that’s about it...
“But as far as women with children, I think there’s been a 360-degree turnaround... as far as that small population, these are guys everybody knows, and they’re not drug addicts and they’re not drunks.”
There’s been a lot of talk recently about banning smoking on the pier — by the City Council and by other local groups. Where do you stand on that issue?
“Well, that’s a very hot topic with us down here on the pier, and one of the reasons is I’m from that old school, and once something is taken away from us, we’ll never get it back...
“If business for us improves with the European market, how many signs can you write in how many languages (to ban smoking)?...
“It’s an outside pier. I think if someone comes down here for an afternoon of leisure and they happen to be a smoker, I certainly hope that they would be courteous and not smoke in Pacific Park in front of children or elsewhere, but I just don’t see it as something we can support...
“If you are here, visiting our fair city... you should have the right to smoke a cigarette, if that’s what you choose to do... Now, if you asked my husband, he’d tell a different story.”
A lot of people think the pier has lapsed and lost some of its popularity. Are we falling behind other popular piers in California?
“I don’t know that any pier is attracting a lot of tourists, especially since 9-11... I think 9-11 hurt our entire country and especially those of us that are in this industry.
“Actually, from Thanksgiving to now, I’ve noticed an increase in European visitors. I have friends up in Santa Barbara and down in Redondo, and they’re having the same problem... A lot of it is weather, too.
“Of course, this pier is going through a long-term change right now, losing the Boathouse... and I think that we all realize that all good things come to an end now or later.”
What’s that like, losing the Boathouse? How did the merchants down here feel when its owners and the city couldn’t work out their differences?
“As I say, any kind of change is strange and startling, especially if you’re personally involved with the people. I think, of course, most of the merchants would have liked to see the Boathouse stay, but time moves on.
“If you’re in, and you realize, behind closed doors, the conversation going on, you see there are reasons for these things... It got to a point where they couldn’t reach a mutual agreement as to what the city envisioned and, maybe, as to what they envisioned for the Boathouse.”
How do you feel about Bubba Gump Shrimp Company — the chain restaurant slated to move into the place occupied by the Boathouse?
“I’ve been to a few of them, the one in Maui, and another one up north. It’s very family oriented and that is something the city wants to see down here. They don’t want a bar down here...
Rusty’s (Surf Ranch) is geared to a different audience... and Mariasol.
“But I think the city had something more in mind that would serve families with small children.”
You mentioned that tourism has dropped off, but what about getting more local residents to come down to the pier? Has that been difficult?
“That’s what they’ve been trying to do over the years, is bring the locals back, and that’s what we’ve been doing with the dance series — not only with the Twilight Dance Series, whose audience is mostly 18 up to 30, but also the Winter Concert Series, which is more family-oriented music.
“Again, it’s all about the weather. We could be giving something away on this pier and the locals still wouldn’t come. We live by the weather.
“And the other thing is a lot of our nightlife is on the Promenade. I can’t tell you how many times people come up and say, ‘Which way to the Promenade?’ or ‘Which way to Main Street?’”
The head of the Santa Monica Pier Lessee’s Association ended up in Santa Monica after she opened up a map, closed her eyes and brought her finger down on Los Angeles.
Born: Chris Sinacola, April 19, 1941, in Savannah, Georgia. Raised: In Chicago. Her Italian-born father was an Army medic, who later ran a restaurant, as well as a popular bar called the Cat and the Fiddle. He also owned a company that made parts for slot machines. Her mother was a nurse.
Education: Two years at Northwestern University. Background: Volaski moved to Santa Monica in 1965, after divorcing her first husband. She rented a house at Pearl and Euclid streets and invested $1,500 into the Oatman Rock Shop, which she now owns, while working at an area restaurant.
Family: Husband John Volaski owns the bait shop at the end of the pier. Daughter Lisa, 42, and sons Mark, 43, Michael, 43, John, 40, and Mannie, 38. San Fran mayor sleeps well amid all the unrest
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 23, 2004. Read the original PDF.