For 36 years, I have spent almost every day walking these cool old deck boards on the Santa Monica Pier. I began my Pier career in September 1989 as a bartender at the old Boathouse Restaurant; today, I am the Executive Director of the Santa Monica Pier Corporation. Have I seen a lot of change? Of course I have! But is the Pier really, fundamentally different from what it was back in 1989?
No.
In Autumn 1989, the Pier was halfway through reconstruction from the devastation of the storms of 1983. There was no west end; there was no amusement park, and there weren’t a lot of visitors. The Pier back then was basically a city street with a handful of privately owned businesses upon it.
Today, the Pier is still exactly that: a city street with a handful of privately owned businesses upon it. Yes, one of those businesses is a full-scale amusement park. Yes, there are often big events. And yes, there are street performers, vendors, and activities pretty much everywhere you turn. And, of course, the Pier is an internationally recognized iconic landmark – America’s last great pleasure, a uniquely interactive living history museum.
But the Pier is not Disneyland. It is not Universal City Walk. It is a place that is open and accessible to everyone; to all walks of life; to all income levels. It is essentially a park that people may enjoy in a wide variety of ways. A walk on the Pier is always free, just like a city street.
The Pier has no overarching operator or manager. In fact, there are three entities who more-or-less equally contribute to the Pier’s atmosphere and operations: the City of Santa Monica, the Pier’s business community, and the Santa Monica Pier Corporation.
Now, wait a minute… Isn’t the Pier Corporation a branch of the City of Santa Monica?
Ah…
Curiously enough, there is not a week that goes by in which someone doesn’t ask me how long I, the Executive Director of the Pier Corporation, have worked for the City. My answer? “I have not worked one single day for the City.”
The Santa Monica Pier Corporation is, in fact, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that curates the pleasure pier experience for locals, visitors, and admirers. Our board of directors is appointed by the Santa Monica City Council, and we do receive a modest annual operating grant from the City, but that is the extent of our relationship with City Hall. To produce those wonderful free events such as Locals’ Nights, Dia de los Muertos, Wellness & Waves, and the annual kickoff-to-summer Pier 360 Beach Festival, we work hard to source funding through partnerships, sponsorships, and venue rentals. We are a scrappy little nonprofit, but a nonprofit nonetheless.
And that is why we are hosting our first-ever fundraising event, A PIERfect Benefit. This is our announcement to the world that we are, in fact, a nonprofit organization. Let there be no more guessing, no more assumptions that we are a branch of the City. We are the organization that provides the invaluable community service of curating a platform for happiness, for memories.
A PIERfect Benefit takes place on September 6th inside the National Landmark Looff Hippodrome. Most of you probably know it better as the Merry Go-Round Building (Did you even know that it’s on the National Registry of Historic Places? Pretty cool, right?). The event will take place from 3:30 to 7:30 PM, closing with one of Santa Monica’s iconic sunsets. Live entertainment, local dignitaries and celebrities, and live and silent auctions fill the bill for the afternoon.
Our program also includes the presentation of the Santa Monica Pier Award to two very special people who helped shape the Pier that we all enjoy today. They are: Judy Abdo, an original Pier Corporation board member and a dedicated advocate for the Pier always being free and accessible, much like a park; and Larry Barber, a one-time cook at a storied little diner on the Pier called Al’s Kitchen and the chair of the “Friends of the Pier” committee that led the fight against City Hall’s early 1970s plan to demolish the Pier.
I call upon everyone today to come commemorate this enduring and incredible place where history comes alive, where memories continue to originate and add to the foundation of this great old remnant of original Southern California beach culture, and to recognize it for its unwavering freedom and accessibility.
And as you recognize the Pier for all that it has been and continues to be today, I ask that you also recognize what the Santa Monica Pier Corporation really is – the dedicated little nonprofit that assures this place as America’s last great pleasure pier.
For information and tickets to A PIERfect Benefit visit:
https://www.santamonicapier.org/pierfectbenefit25
Jim Harris is the Executive Director and Historian of the Santa Monica Pier Corporation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) dedicated to preserving and programming one of America’s last great pleasure piers. He has worked on the Pier for 36 years, beginning as a bartender at the Boathouse Restaurant in 1989, and has led the organization since 2016. He is also the author of “Santa Monica Pier: America’s Last Great Pleasure Pier.” Harris can be reached at jim@santamonicapier.org.
