Click photos to enlarge:
1. Short
Summary: Established 100 years ago in
1906
by the
Newport Bay Investment Company, the Pavilion played a prominent role in
the
development of In 1906, it became the
southern
terminus for
the Pacific Electric Railway connecting the beach with downtown The Pavilion has since then housed approximately twenty-eight types of activities. Notable examples include a post office, art museum, bowling alley, gambling establishment, speed boat rides and a host of other marine recreational activities.
The Pavilion has been in
nearly
continuous
operation since its opening on Today, the Balboa Pavilion
continues to
serve as
2. Pavilion Historical Facts: In a letter, dated September 20, 1905, the War Department in Washington granted Newport Bay Investment Company permission to construct and maintain a building for purposes of a “boat-house, bath-house, and pavilion” with 210 feet of water frontage.
The
Pavilion was
built by a
group of promoters. The promoters recognized Balboa’s
potential as a seaside and bay recreational area. They formed
“Newport
Bay Investment Company” in the early 1900s “to formalize
their vision.” The Balboa
Pavilion was
constructed by contractor, Chris McNeil. Just five years before,
McNeil
had built the red sandstone courthouse in During
construction, the
Pavilion could only be reached by boat or, with great difficulty, on a
sandy
road. However, construction of this wooden Victorian design
building was
fully completed on
When the
rail
line opened
on Suddenly,
the
empty, barren
sand spit previously designated as “swamp and overflow”
land (today called the Later that
year,
the Balboa
ferry service commenced which connected the Balboa peninsula with
Corona del
Mar. All of the
above
helped
secure the future of the Pavilion. The
original
building
consisted of a large 8,000 square foot meeting room on the second story
and a
simple bathhouse on the first floor where people could change from
street
attire into outfits called “Bathing Suits.” Sometime
between
1910 and
1920, for a period of five years, the post office operated from the
Pavilion. Further, there was a barber shop which employed an
infamous
barber called “Lucky Tiger Jack.” He was so named by
the locals because
he was always drinking his Lucky Tiger hair tonic. Regarding
the
post office,
according to Phil Tozer, the only way to
get from Shortly thereafter, yearly Fourth of July bathing beauty parades brought large gatherings of people to Balboa. The contestants would parade around Balboa and return in front of the Pavilion for contest judging.
In the early 1920’s, bathing suit rentals were a thriving business. Also popular were boat rentals and sight-seeing excursions. The Pavilion continues to offer these same two activities today. In 1923, the Pavilion underwent remodeling making it more suitable for dancing. The 1930s
ushered in the Big
Band era. On weekends at the Pavilion, you could listen to Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and the Dorseys.
Phil Harris and his band played regularly on weekdays. The dance
step
called the "Balboa," with variations sometimes knicknamed the
“Balboa Hop” and/or the “Balboa Shuffle”
originated at the Balboa Pavilion
and swept across the
Photographs - Courtesy of Joel Plys Admission
to the
dances was
free, but couples who used the roped off dance floor had to pay for the
privilege
to dance. Ticket hoppers posted at several locations sold nickel
tickets. Each time a dancing couple stepped on the dance floor,
they
would give up a ticket. After the completion of each music
number, the
dance floor was quickly cleared by opening up the ropes. Then the
ropes
were put back, and dancers would again have to use another ticket to
dance. Due to the structural weakness in the building back in
those days,
the “jitterbug” was prohibited.
The popularity of dancing at the Pavilion lead to the building of the much larger Rendezvous Ballroom a few blocks away. With the opening the the larger, nearby, waterfront Rendezvous Ballroom which attracted the big name bands and larger dance crowds, the Pavilion’s dance era declined. Nevertheless, the Pavilion owners still staged walkathons and dance marathons to attract Depression era crowds. During this same time frame, gambling was legal. The Pavilion had several upstairs and downstairs card rooms were patrons could play blackjack, penny roulette and other card games. Until the
late
1930s, speedboat rides, which defied all
sensible boating rules,
thrilled inlanders with roaring trips up the bay, out into the
Also,
during the
1930s, a
45-foot boat called the “Magic Isle” provided sightseeing
trips. At
night, this same boat would leave the Pavilion with a huge, blazing
searchlight
and cruise the coast. Frequently, flying fish could be seen with
the
searchlight jumping out of the water. Right
after
World War II,
Today, only two sport fishing landings with less than ten boats survived, one of which is Davey’s Locker which, since 1965, has been operating out of the Balboa Pavilion.
In 1942, the Pavilion's owners leased the upstairs of the building to a gentleman who built and operated a ten lane bowling alley! Pinsetters hand set the pins. Pinsetters were paid ten cents per game. He also operated an archery range and had five pool tables.
Because
the
Pavilion is
anchored on a narrow strip of sandy waterfront, most of the building
was
supported on wooden pilings which extend over the bay. In 1947,
the
wooden pilings deteriorated to the dangerous point and the building
began to
collapse into the bay. In 1947 or
1948,
the Gronsky family purchased the Balboa
Pavilion primarily to
operate a sport fishing landing and to continue leasing the
upstairs. However,
rumors
circulated
that the Pavilion, which was run down and in disrepair, would be
leveled and
transformed into a boat yard. But according to Art Gronsky,
“We assured everybody we would keep the Pavilion and make it
better. When
we reopened it in 1949, it was quite an event for Balboa.” Because
the
building was in
such poor condition, the Gronsky’s
obtained the
building at a very low price. To rectify the deteriorating
twenty-six
original wooden pilings, eight large, concrete pilings were installed,
a Hurculean task. Workers pushed
wheel-barrels full of
concrete across scaffoldings to install new concrete pilings. The
result
was a newly fortified, element-resistant city landmark.
Additionally, the
lower walls of the building were also rebuilt to be structurally sound. In 1949,
the Gronsky reopened the building. At first,
the Gronskys did not own their own fishing
boats. But
they allowed other boat owners to run their boats out of the Pavilion
on a
percentage basis. The Gronskys
converted the
Pavilion’s only boat, the “Crescent,” into a bait
carrier and hauled bait the
Pavilion fishing boats and the other eight fishing landings in the
bay. But the
private
boats had to
obtain their bait from bait tanks at the Pavilion, the only harbor bait
provider at that time. During the height of the Albacore season,
boats
lined up a quarter of a mile, clear back to The Gronsky’s
continued speed boat rides. Their boat was the “Leading
Lady.”
However, a speed limit was imposed in the bay. Therefore, the
“speed”
part of the ride had to wait until they exited the bay and entered the
ocean. According
to Art Gronsky, the bowling alley,
archery,
and
pool table
continued but, due to suspiciously low monthly percentage checks
amounting to
less than $20.00, the Gronskys switched to
a fixed
rate rental. This caused the business owner not to renegotiate
the
lease. According to Gronsky, the owner chopped each bowling lane into three pieces, slide
them out of the side of the building and into a truck and, he heard,
reinstalled them somewhere in By 1949, a
gift
shop and the
“ In 1954, Gronsky
instituted a shell museum upstairs. Gronsky
purchased one of the world’s most expensive private shell
collections from the
estate of Fred Aldrich, who had lived on
In 1961
the Gronskys sold the Balboa Pavilion to Ducommun
Realty Company of According
to
Bill Ficker, an architect who worked on
the year long
renovation, “They did it because they loved the Pavilion and they
thought it
was a landmark worth being preserved.”
From 1962
through 1970, the
upstairs of the Pavilion housed the “I
called Mr. Ducommon at his home in
Portuguese Bend at
7’oclock in the morning and I guess he couldn’t believe
what he heard – some
women he didn’t know wanted to use his building for their art
museum, for
free” “The
building was in pretty flaky condition,” according to Ms. Winckler. We agreed to make a few
improvements
on the second floor – a heater for winter, vents for summer, and
restrooms. “Finally,
the big day came, and on In 1963, Ducommun
added 1500 lights to the buildings exterior at the suggestion of a
former
restaurant lessee. Even today, the Pavilion continues to light up
the
night with its 1500 glowing light bulbs. These lights, along with
the Cupula on top of the building,
incidentally serve as a
navigation beacon for night boat travelers.
The Balboa Pavillion is state historical landmark #959 and national historic landmark #84000914.
In 1969, Davey’s
Locker Inc., a sport fishing operation, under the business leadership
of its
president, Phil Tozer, purchased the
Balboa Pavilion
to provide a permanent terminal for the expansion of its On In 1981,
the
Balboa Pavilion
was designated as a California Point of Historic Interest. In short, a
long succession of owners have sought to preserve its basic
structure,
retain the Pavilion’s beautiful Victorian lines as well as its
authenticity.
The
Pavilion is
a classic
example of the turn-of-the-century waterfront pavilions and continues
to be the
center of The Balboa
Pavilion “is the
city landmark,” according to Ficker.
“Every
painter has painted it and every photographer has photographed
it. It is
the grand dame of focal points.” 3. Pavilion
Presently: Currently,
the
Pavilion is
used as a marine recreation facility, with sport fishing boats, a giant
passenger catamaran to A.
The
Balboa
Fun Zone (1936 to present). The Balboa Fun Zone was
built on
Abbott's Landing where Mr. Abbott brought soil from the mainland and
planted
the
B.
The
Balboa
Car Ferry (1919 to present): Transporting vehicles
between
C. Balboa
Pier (1906 to present): Located on
©
2005 Balboa Pavilion Co. Inc. |
