Top Tips For Redondo Pier Success
Ideas for The City Council to Implement
The view from the Redondo Beach Pier is beatiful; now if the Pier were the same.
It's as overdue as a library book that was checked out in 1975.
As needed as a hangover remedy on New Year's Day.
In December of 2011, right before Christmas, the Redondo Beach City Council approved nearly $2 million in improvements to the Pier and Seaside Lagoon.
That's great. But the biggest decision is in how that nearly $2 million is going to be spent. Not included in this article is the curious decision to spend $1.2 million on a bathroom in Seaside Lagoon. That deserves its own, separate story.
Well, Surfside Sam has a few suggestions, and here are, in fact, SurfsideSam.com's Top 5 Suggestions for Improving the Redondo Beach Pier and Waterfront:
1.) Move the Bike Path to the Waterfront.
The plan calls for $675,000 to be spent on the bike path, but that may just be on repaving the existing path. What's needed is a new path that goes along the marina.
First, the wall between Hermosa and Redondo – the one that stands like a guardian to RB rather than a welcome sign – should be torn down and the path should run up by the Chart House and behind the Spectrum Club. Continue it behind Bluewater Grill and the soon-to-be-built Shade hotel.
The latter is a swanky property being opened by Mike Zislis and he would no doubt welcome potential customers going by on bikes and suddenly deciding they need a drink at his bar. The same holds true for Bluewater Grill and the Cheesecake Factory.
As it is now, the bike path is on Harbor Drive and bicyclists have to deal with traffic and the occasional cars turning in and out of the Cheesecake and two roads. It's silly with a fantastic view just a few yards away, and it's also not too safe for both cyclists and drivers (as well as runners).
This new and improved bike path should include a ramp across from Seaside Lagoon, then continue through the parking lot. Or, for this little stretch, use the existing path on Harbor Drive to Captain Kidd's and the Pier.
There's already a sidewalk in place behind Harbor Drive that provides a great view of the boats in the harbor. All that's needed is a bit of widening to it. Surely, $675,000 can cover a little concrete.
2.) Clean Up The Pier.
An improved Pier needs to be as pristine as its coastline views.
The place needs, at worst, a coat of paint. At best, a complete facelift. So let's settle for something in between, a spiffing up of the Pier to actually make it nice.
Right now, it's run down and dirty. Seedy, in fact.
The city's plan does call for landscaping (can't agree more), benches (not really necessary) and lighting (wouldn't hurt).
Just clean the place up a bit and make it more presentable. That alone will help encourage people to go there more often.
3.) Bring In New Businesses.
There also needs to be a huge improvement in the businesses at the Pier. The old arcade says "dying Pier trying to relive the 60s." Who goes there, anyway? A few kids on occasion. Next to that is a restaurant I only recently discovered and I've lived in the area for 20 years. What a waste of prime real estate.
Then there is the incredible eyesore, the falling down round building. Keep reading for a suggestion on how to make that ugly thing a huge success.
What's needed is some fresh, new businesses with a clean, modern look. Restaurant/bars with windows looking out to the sea and tables on a patio is a great way to start. Require that existing restaurants – or do it for them – clean up their facades. The open seafood places look run down. This isn't San Pedro, after all.
Finally, the bike path currently runs under a cold, dark concrete parking structure. That needs to be moved seaside.
4.) Expand Entertainment on the Pier.
A band plays during Christmas, but hardly anyone was there to enjoy it.
The Pier needs a more festive environment.
The city does occasionally provide music on the Pier, at a great location behind Kincaid's. But it needs to be better promoted (hanging festive banners on the Pier would be a start in this direction) and the atmosphere needs to be more lively.
Have some Pier restaurants give out samples of their food and coupons for free appetizers.
In fact, have music throughout the Pier. Either put up speakers or have a little ensemble walk around on weekends (surely, a local group or high school band students would be more than willing to do this for free).
Of course, by following the following suggestion, these events would be a major attraction perhaps, even, a happening.
Old Tony's, in the distance, is one of the Pier's few good bar attractions.
5.) Tear Down and Rebuild the Falling Down Round Building and Put in A Yard House.
Except for the occasional few beers at Naja's and a Fire Chief or two at Old Tony's, there's little reason for the South Bay's substantial population of free-spending fun people to go to Redondo. They need places to enjoy, to sit outside and have a few beers or cocktails, especially on gorgeous Saturday and Sunday afternoons nature blesses the Pier with on so many occasions. As of now, Redondo offers none of these things.
The old wooden roundhouse is an eyesore but making something useful – and highly profitable – out of it would be a benefit to residents as well as the city's bank account. A Yard House is the prefect business to go in there; it's a well-run restaurant/bar with people who know how to turn a profit and it has the financial resources to turn the place into a gold mine.
In addition to helping to make the Pier look better and attracting more people, putting in a Yard House will give the Pier something it has always lacked and really needs: A landmark tenant.
Just be sure and include outdoor tables, which would be utilized not just for beers but also for dining. Outdoor seating should be a Pier priority, in fact. Having tables with a view would give the Pier something that barely exists in its two prime competitive areas, Hermosa and Manhattan Beach, and provide it with a unique marketable attraction. (Imagine, for instance, having a deck overlooking the boats at Delzano's By the Sea. There would be a line wrapped around the building on weekends.)
For those worried that a Yard House would drive out Naja's, that's entirely possible. So offer this opportunity first to the Pier's long-time tenant. That place could use a facelift, too.
BONUS SUGGESTION
Put A Steel Drum Musician At Rocky Point
Ever been to Rocky Point? It's one of the coolest places in all of the Redondo Pier area, a little bait shop that sells bottles of Budweiser for something like a buck-50 and overlooks the marina and channel. It's great to sit on one of its two picnic tables, usually with boat owners, on a nice afternoon, and toss back a couple of beers.
But it's missing music. Allow it to bring in a steel drum player on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and let the ensuing small party spill out somewhat into the Portofino parking lot. Because of the nature of the music and the people who enjoy it, the scene wouldn't be wild, but rather as gentle as the light breeze that blows in off the Pacific.
Then, City Council, sit back and start counting the revenue from the taxes from the sales of all those buck-50 Budweisers.
SurfsideSam.com covers the beach lifestyle and beach cities around the world. © 2011. All rights reserved.
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