A proposal to convert Redondo Beach’s 85-year-old Seaside Lagoon into LA’s first wave pool was nixed the City Council this week, as members unanimously voted to pursue rehabilitating the facility instead.
To be clear, the September 15 City Council meeting would not have approved or even voted on building a wave pool. What had happened leading up to the City Council meeting, however, was a Harbor Commission meeting that voted to add consideration of new proposals to the Council’s Tuesday agenda. Among them were wave pool plans backed by Beachlife Festival Co-founder Allen Sanford.
According to The Easy Reader, the council approved an update to the three-acre public park back in April after years (at least 20, to be exact) of public calls to modernize the park and mounting fines from the state. A $10-million state grant was awarded to Redondo Beach to revitalize the lagoon as a year-round public park for the entire community, and a proposal approved by the council would create a new entryway for the Lagoon, landscaping, cabanas, new restrooms and showers, fire pits, volleyball courts, picnic areas, and a playground.
Redondo Beach Mayor Jim Light said in a statement Tuesday night that City Council would vote to “direct staff to submit an application to rehabilitate Seaside Lagoon or delay to look at more alternatives, including a wave pool.”
Redondo Beach resident and ECObyRy Founder Ryan Harris was one of the community members at that City Council meeting Tuesday night, taking his opportunity to speak to the councilmembers before their vote.
“We need to do better with the Lagoon. It’s an iconic location, but it kind of crushes my soul that space is only open three months out of the year,” Harris told the Council. “I’m a bit of an expert when it comes to wave pools. Over the last five years, I’ve seen pools all over the country. I know a thing or two about them; I just have a lot of questions with regard to those plans. Surfers love wave pools, but we’re also pretty picky. There’s one in Palm Springs, in particular, that’s not doing so well because (the wave) is so short. But being a Redondo resident, I think it’s a tremendous opportunity, and I think we should definitely look into it.”
Harris added in another conversation with The Inertia that his recommendation wasn’t to move forward with building a wave pool but for the Council to hold off on their vote for the Phase 1 plan, giving more time to learn if a wave pool might work in the South Bay town.
In a Facebook post last week, Mayor Light addressed misinformation floating around the town concerning the wave pool proposal, which had seemingly come out of nowhere. Light shot down the rumors that the city had been in negotiations with Sanford for his wave pool proposal, explaining that “the city could not sole source a concession for a wave pool in Seaside Lagoon regional park. It would have to be competed. The City cannot approve development of any project at Seaside Lagoon. Seaside Lagoon is in the tidelands where the Coastal Commission retains its jurisdiction and has not delegated authority to Redondo. The most the City can do is approve an application to the Coastal Commission for a project in Seaside Lagoon Park.”
