26-644: The Santa Monica Looff Hippodrome is located on the Newcomb Pier adjacent to the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California . It was designed and built in 1916 by Charles I. D. Looff and his son Arthur to hold a Looff Carousel. Looff's carousel was housed at the Hippodrome until it was sold in 1939. It was replaced by Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel #62, which was moved from
52-525: A Rumpler Drop Car . From 1955 until 1962, the ballroom served as a roller skating rink ; first as Skater's Ballroom, and later as the Santa Monica Roller Rink, where the speed skating club won many state and regional championships and later Champion speed skater Ronnie Rains become a Roller Derby star. The rinks operator was Jack Goodrich who was a former vaudeville and silent film star. The operators daughter Michelle Goodrich later became
78-613: A 1,500-room hotel. It was approved by the City Council, but citizens formed "Save Santa Monica Bay" to preserve the pier. The order to raze the pier was revoked by the city council in 1973. Within that same year, the Carousel and Hippodrome were locations for the film The Sting . Storms swept away the protective breakwater in 1982. During storms in early 1983, the pier experienced a significant loss. On January 27, there were reported swells of 10-feet during this winter storm. When
104-615: A Spanish façade and French Renaissance interior, it was the largest dance hall on the west coast , accommodating 5,000 dancers on its 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m ) hard maple floor. Country music star Spade Cooley began broadcasting his weekly television show from the ballroom in 1948, where the program remained until 1954. In the summer of 1955, the Hollywood Autocade opened at the La Monica with one-hundred famous and unusual cars, including Jack Benny 's Maxwell and
130-460: A man who claiming to have a bomb climbed onto the Ferris wheel at Pacific Park. He was then arrested and taken into custody. The City of Santa Monica created a non-profit in response to the damage and called it Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corporation (SMPRC). SMPRC is headquartered Hippodromes second floor, with former apartments being converted into offices, and conducted the daily operations of
156-659: A sequence toward the beginning where he goes to the La Monica Ballroom for an audition. The pier is also featured in the 2018 film Pacific Rim Uprising , starring John Boyega , where a kaiju attack destroys the pier (as well as the entire city). Jack Dawson in Titanic references the pier, which would have been just three years old in 1912, when the ship sank. National Register of Historic Places listings in Los Angeles County, California This
182-463: A short, wide pier adjacent to the long, narrow Santa Monica Pier. When World War II ended, Walter Newcomb found himself in an enviable position. The amusement business was expected to see a great surge with the return of the country's military personnel and a general feeling of national pride. With the closure of the Venice Pier reducing his competition, he relocated his Venice-based carousel into
208-616: A showgirl in the Ice Capades. The La Monica Ballroom was demolished in 1963 as a result of the Newcomb family waiting too long to start repairs. The Pleasure Pier thrived during the 1920s but faded during the Great Depression . During the 1930s, most of the amusement park facilities were closed down and its attractions sold off. A breakwater was built in 1934 that provided docking for up to 100 fishing and pleasure boats near
234-655: Is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Los Angeles County, California . This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles County, California , excluding the cities of Los Angeles and Pasadena . The locations of National Register properties and districts for which the latitude and longitude coordinates are included below, may be seen in an online map. There are 611 properties and districts listed on
260-541: Is part of the greater Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area . The pier contains Pacific Park , a family amusement park with its solar panelled Ferris wheel . The brightly lit wheel can be seen from a distance and has been turned off during the Earth Hour observance. It also has an original carousel hippodrome from the 1920s, the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium operated by Heal
286-440: The 1920s and 1930s". The Hippodrome was restored and the Carousel was rebuilt inside it. The current 2-acre (0.81 ha) Pacific Park opened in 1996 as a full-scale family amusement park. Santa Monica Pier The Santa Monica Pier is a large pier at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California , United States. It contains a small amusement park, concession stands, and areas for views and fishing. The pier
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#1732780943678312-513: The Bay , shops, entertainers, a video arcade , a trapeze school, pubs , and restaurants . The pier's west end is a popular location for anglers . The pier is a venue for outdoor concerts, movies, and other activities. Santa Monica has had several piers; however, the current Santa Monica Pier is made up of two adjoining piers that long had separate owners. The long, narrow Municipal Pier opened September 9, 1909, primarily to carry sewer pipes beyond
338-645: The Blue Streak Racer wooden roller coaster (which was purchased from the defunct Wonderland amusement park in San Diego), the Whip, merry-go-rounds, Wurlitzer organs, and a funhouse. The Philadelphia Toboggan Company built the Carousel, PTC #62, in 1922. It features 44 hand-carved horses. It was rebuilt in 1990 inside the Hippodrome. A calliope provides musical accompaniment. The La Monica Ballroom opened on July 23, 1924. Designed by T. S. Eslick with
364-501: The National Register in the county, including 21 National Historic Landmarks . Los Angeles is the location of more than 250 of these properties and districts, including 11 National Historic Landmarks; they are listed separately . Pasadena is the location of 130 of these properties and districts, including 5 National Historic Landmarks; they, too, are listed separately . The 202 properties and districts located elsewhere in
390-599: The Ocean Park Pier. The building remains a rare example of structures that used to be on the amusement pier, and scenes were filmed therein for the 1973 award-winning film, The Sting . Since 1977, the carousel has been owned by the city, and was restored from 1977 through 1981. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. On June 12, 1916, the Looff Hippodrome opened. It and its carousel were part of Looff's new amusement park "Pleasure Pier," on
416-565: The Roxbury (1998), Mighty Joe Young (1998), Miracle Beach , Forrest Gump (there is a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Restaurant on the pier), Not Another Teen Movie , Iron Man , Desperate Teenage Lovedolls , Dark Ride , Cellular , The Hottie and the Nottie , Falling Down , Ruthless People (the pier is the site of the movie's climactic final scene), Love Stinks , Hancock , The Happytime Murders , Sharknado ,
442-737: The Santa Monica Pier, such as managing events, filming, promotions, tenants, and street performers. SMPRC has produced the Santa Monica Pier Paddle Board Race and the Twilight Summer Concert Series. Also, in 2011, SMPRC changed the company name to the Santa Monica Pier Corporation (SMPC). In the popular book series The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare, the fictional Los Angeles Institute overlooks
468-742: The Santa Monica Pier. Most of the major plot is set in this vicinity. The Santa Monica Pier has been used as a filming location for many decades. The amusement park attractions as they existed in 1930s are seen prominently in the Our Gang short Fish Hooky (1933). It also appears prominently in Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), Quicksand (1950), Elmer Gantry (1960), 1941 (1979 film), The Opposite of Sex (1998), They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), Night Tide (1961), Bean (1997), The Sting (1973), Farewell, My Lovely (1975) with Robert Mitchum , Her (2013), A Night at
494-553: The breakers and had no amenities. The short, wide adjoining Pleasure Pier to the south, also known as Newcomb Pier, was built in 1916 by Charles I. D. Looff and his son Arthur, amusement park pioneers. Attractions on the Pleasure Pier eventually included the Santa Monica Looff Hippodrome building (which now houses the current carousel and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places ),
520-494: The county, including 5 National Historic Landmarks, are listed here. A single district, the Arroyo Seco Parkway Historic District , passes through both cities and other parts of the county. Another 6 properties, including 5 outside these two cities, were once listed on the National Register but have been removed. This National Park Service list
546-442: The indie romantic comedy She Wants Me , and Hannah Montana: The Movie (the scene with Lilly's birthday party). During the earthquake in the movie 2012 , the pier can be seen sinking beneath the waves. The Natalie Wood film Inside Daisy Clover (1965) features the pier in the beginning of the picture. The pier was also featured in the 2012 film version of Rock of Ages . The Glenn Miller Story with Jimmy Stewart has
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#1732780943678572-501: The old Looff Hippodrome. Over the next several decades the city of Santa Monica proposed various plans to tear down Newcomb Pier, and with it the Hippodrome. The city council approved a plan to replace the pier with a resort island in Santa Monica Bay . Local activists formed Save Santa Monica Bay and shot down that plan, and in 1973 the city formally revoked a standing order to demolish the pier. The city acquired ownership of
598-642: The pier in summer 1974. In the 1980s it was almost destroyed by winter storms. In 1983 the city formed a Pier Restoration and Development Task Force (now the Pier Restoration Corporation), tasked with returning the pier to its former glory. In 1989 the Pier Restoration Corporation decided to "make the pier a year-round commercial development with amusement rides, gift shops, nightclubs with live entertainment and restaurants" that would be "reminiscent of its heyday in
624-421: The pier. The bridge and entry gate to Santa Monica Pier were built in 1938 by the federal Works Project Administration , and replaced the former grade connection. The Newcomb Pier was privately owned until it was acquired by the city in 1974. During the 1960s and 1970s, various plans were proposed that would entail removal of the pier. The most extensive included the construction of an artificial island with
650-468: The storm was over, the lower deck of the pier was destroyed. The City of Santa Monica began repairs on March 1, 1983, when another storm rolled in. A crane which was being used to repair the west end was dragged into the water and acted as a battering ram against the pilings. Over one-third of the Pier was destroyed. On May 25, 1996, The Santa Monica Pier welcomed its newest attraction Pacific Park. Pacific Park
676-530: Was the first new attraction since the 1930s. Construction began on December 2, 1994 and ended in February, 1996. On June 18, 2009, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment issued a safe eating advisory for any fish caught from Santa Monica Pier to Ventura Harbor due to elevated levels of mercury and PCBs. On October 9, 2023, part of the pier was forced to evacuate after
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