Santa Monica Pier
The Santa Monica Pier is one of the greatest attractions and the symbol of the California city of Santa Monica . It starts from Colorado Avenue and extends over Santa Monica State Beach (public beach) into the Pacific Ocean . At the same time, it is the end point of the famous Route 66 .
history
The Santa Monica Pier consists of two juxtaposed piers , which for a long time belonged to two different owners. The long and narrow Municipal Pier opened on September 9, 1909, mainly for the purpose of running sewer pipes behind the surf . The short but wider Pleasure Pier (also Newcomb Pier ) at the south end was built in 1916 by Charles Looff and his son Arthur Looff; both are considered pioneers in the creation of amusement parks.
The La Monica Ballroom opened in 1924 , but had to close again in 1959. The bridge connection to the pier was built in 1938 by the state Works Progress Administration .
Newcomb Pier was acquired by the city in 1953 and survived various demolition plans in the 1960s. The most unusual plan was to build an artificial island for a 1,500-room hotel. The city council approved the project, but had it by an overwhelming citizens' initiative called "Save the Santa Monica Bay" (Eng .: Save the Santa Monica Bay ) in 1973 again give up. That same year, the old carousel became a central location for the seven Academy Award-winning film The Sting of the Game (although the film is set in Chicago ).
Because of its proximity to the Hollywood film studios and its popularity among the population, numerous television and cinema productions have been shot here since the 1930s.
Leisure time
The pier is home to the Pacific Park amusement park, where you can see the Pacific Ocean and West Los Angeles from a Ferris wheel . The park also includes a carousel from the 1920s, an aquarium and various shops, junk shops, bars and restaurants. Pacific Park dates from 1958 to 1967 and was restored in 1974. The carousel was built in 1922 and placed on the Pleasure Pier. It has 44 hand-carved horses and is accompanied by music. In 1990 it was restored and put up again.
At the far end of the pier, many fishermen come together every day and pursue their hobby. There are also numerous festivals, dances and open-air film screenings in the summer.
Others
The German film park Movie Park Germany opened a new themed area in 2007 based on the Santa Monica Pier as a model.
The future and the eventual collapse of the pier after a fictional disappearance of mankind is shown in episode 7 of the second season of the documentary fiction series Future Without People ("Waves des death", USA 2010).
Web links
Coordinates: 34 ° 0 ′ 31 ″ N , 118 ° 29 ′ 55 ″ W.