The Bookshelf: Pacific Ocean Park, pt 3
The demise
Pacific Ocean Park opened in 1958 to great fanfare and success. Attendance was good and everyone was optimistic. And then 1959 arrived.
The park had invested $3M between seasons to improve the place: a new paint scheme throughout, a few new rides, a petting zoo, and so on. The new Fun Forest was an area dedicated for kids, with small rides and a maze. The front gate admission price was increased to $1.25. By August they tried rolling this back to $0.95, but a month later they realize something was really wrong. Marco Engineer, with good ‘ole boy C.V. Wood at the helm, conducted a study to determine what was going on. Their conclusion was that the park would not exceed attendance of 1M without significant upgrades and changes—but the break-even point required 1,750,000 annually. Yes, they were in deep trouble.
The Turf Club and CBS wanted out. John Morehart, real estate investor, took it on and tried his best. The new owners switched to a different pricing model for the 1960 season, where the front gate admission gained access to nearly all the rides and attractions. The public loved it and attendance boomed this year. Of course they loved it—the ticket price of only $1.50 was far better than emptying their pockets at every booth. Even better, Pacific Ocean Park became the hip place for some serious entertainment, hosting such big names as Wink Martindale (and his daily Martindale’s Dance Party), Sam Cooke, Johnny Cash, Frankie Avalon…you name it, they were probably there.
Things looked great…from the outside. Behind the scenes, things were literally falling apart. The problem for the park was that each vendor and ride operator owned their attractions, so the gate income had to be distributed to everyone, along with paying rent to two cities, insurance, and all the other fixed costs for operating such a complex facility. There was nothing left, and so maintenance began its inexorable decline. On top of this, Santa Monica began a renewal program to spruce up the surrounding area, closing off primary access to the park in the process. People couldn’t easily get there if they wanted to.
In 1967 the gates were closed. By 1968 all hope ended.
Over the next several years the park slowly disintegrated, falling into the ocean, catching on fire…the usual death signs of an abandoned dream. Like so many others, Pacific Ocean Park gave it a go but just couldn’t make it work. There are many factors that must come together for such a large, complex, and expensive undertaking to take root and thrive. It also takes a powerful leader with serious financial resources who believes in the idea and has the willpower to ensure it continues in the right direction. Thankfully we still have a number of such places to enjoy. But not this one.
Pacific Ocean Park: The Rise and Fall of Los Angeles’ Space-Age Nautical Pleasure Pier. Christopher Merritt and Domenic Priore. Photos here are from the awesome, beautiful book.
