This article is about the current Santa Monica, California amusement park that opened in 1996. For the former Santa Monica amusement park that operated from 1958 to 1967, see Pacific Ocean Park. For the Brooklyn, New York redevelopment project, see Pacific Park, Brooklyn.
Santa Monica Municipal Pier opened in 1909; it was primarily to carry sewer pipes out beyond the breakers and had no amenities. In 1916, Charles I. D. Looff, who built Coney Island's first carousel, started construction on an adjacent pier known as the Pleasure Pier, also called Newcomb Pier, for use as an amusement park. The two piers are now both considered to be part of Santa Monica Pier.[4] 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), 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 Pleasure Pier thrived during the 1920s but faded during the Great Depression. During the 1930s, the pier was mainly used as a ferry landing, while most of the pier was closed down and its attractions sold off.[5]
Over the next several decades the city of Santa Monica proposed various plans to tear down Newcomb Pier. 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,[6] and in 1973, the city formally revoked a standing order to demolish the pier.[7] The city acquired ownership of the privately owned pier in summer 1974.[8] In the 1980s, the pier 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. Summer music concerts were held on the pier.[5]
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 the 1920s and 1930s".[9] The current 2-acre (0.81 ha) park opened in 1996 as a full-scale family amusement park.[10]
The park is "non-gated" and there is no charge for admission; individual rides charge a fee. There are thirteen rides as well as midway games, food outlets, and shopping. A Seaside Pavilion event space opened in 2009 for corporate and private events.[11] This is a list of rides in operation at Pacific Park as of 2016.[1][12]
West Coaster – A steel roller coaster running around the perimeter of Pacific Park. West Coaster's maximum height is 55 feet (17 m), and the single train reaches speeds of 35 miles per hour.
Pacific Plunge – A 45-foot (14 m) drop tower built by Moser Rides. Carries 10 seated people in two gondolas. Refurbished in 2012
Shark Frenzy – A custom built shark-themed twist on a Tilt-a-whirl ride. Each seated shark "head" represents a different species of shark including the Blue, Bull, Great White, Lemon, Mako, Sand Tiger and Tiger species.
Pacific Wheel – The original Pacific Wheel was listed on eBay with half the proceeds from the sale donated to the Special Olympics. It had 20 gondolas and was featured in the Steven Spielberg film 1941.[15] The current Pacific Wheel measures 85 feet (26 m), and the vantage point at the top is more than 130 feet (40 m) above the pier. Pacific Park claims that the Pacific Wheel is the world's first and only solar-powered Ferris wheel.[16]
