New Era for Old Pier

HUNTINGTON BEACH — When Huntington Beach native Billie Kennedy rides her bike under the condemned Maxwell’s restaurant at the downtown pier, her thoughts turn to another era of high school dances in the 1930s.

“It seemed like everybody went down there to dance on a Saturday night,” Kennedy, 75, said. “All the jitterbugs, all the young people. It was crowded. It was great.”

Now the lounge where young people danced is covered with pigeon droppings. Decorative etched-glass panels that had separated the red vinyl booths lie shattered on the floor. Discarded menus and band fliers litter the interior.

The restaurant has been closed since 1995, condemned by neglect and damage to the foundation from beach erosion.

“It looks like a warehouse district,” said city Community Services Director Ron Hagan.

On Monday, the city started work on the $12-million Pier Plaza, a nearly mile-long promenade that officials hope will provide a grand entryway to the municipal pier.

Maxwell’s will make way for Duke’s Surf City restaurant, part of an upscale Hawaii-based chain with a surfing theme Hagan called “a perfect fit” for Huntington Beach. And the plaza will also feature an amphitheater, a football-field-sized Great Lawn and other amenities.

Maxwell’s will be demolished in July. The plaza area will be fenced off this summer while construction crews grind up the old parking lots. Access to the pier and beach won’t be affected, officials said.

The plaza itself will be finished by June 1998, with Duke’s opening later that year--60 years after its predecessor.

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In 1938, workers with the Depression-era Works Progress Administration built the Pavilion, a dance hall that eventually became Maxwell’s.

Young people took the nickel electric trolley ride to the Pavilion and danced until 2 a.m. Nationally known acts stopped by occasionally, spelling the house band, the Esquires.

The Esquires “sounded like all the big bands. They were wonderful,” Kennedy, the longtime resident, said. “If they played Glenn Miller’s music, they sounded like Glenn Miller. If they played ‘One O’Clock Jump,’ they sounded like Benny Goodman. They were great.”

In 1941, the Pavilion was renamed the Pav-A-Lon, to play on the popularity of Avalon on Catalina Island, a dance-hall mecca in its own right.

In 1955, the ballroom was converted into a skating rink. Then it was rebuilt as a restaurant after a fire in 1966. Ten years later, The Fisherman eatery was renamed Maxwell’s, which came to be a premier spot in Orange County for live jazz.

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Last week, city leaders held their official groundbreaking at the plaza site while sunbathers in bikinis and baggies strolled by, dripping cocoa butter and skeptically eyeing the proceedings.

Few had any idea what was going on. Some said they hated to see Maxwell’s go, and opposed any construction plans.

“This has been here for years,” 19-year-old local Rick DeGuido said of Maxwell’s. “I don’t know, it’s like a monument, I guess.”

“I remember when there was Maxie’s on the side. They had the [best] pancakes,” R.J. Campbell, 16, chimed in, saltwater dripping from his spiky hair. “I used to go there every single morning.”

They also said the city seems more concerned with tourists than residents.

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Hagan countered that the plan for the plaza was designed by residents through surveys by city staff.

The city has tried to build a plaza to complement the municipal pier since 1983. But grandiose plans of parking garages and beach-side malls gave way to the Pier Plaza, with its increased bathrooms and showers, better handicapped access to the beach and a walkway with tiles depicting the sun over ocean waves.

A 60-foot-long tiled mural will depict the history of the area, from Spanish conquest to surfing contests.

An amphitheater will feature concerts and awards ceremonies for surfing and volleyball contests, reprising a theater where military and concert bands serenaded sunbathers in 1930s and ‘40s. Next to the new theater will be the Great Lawn, for picnicking or sunset-watching.

Parking spaces will increase from 450 to 600, with no parking garage.

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In addition, Duke’s will be slightly smaller than Maxwell’s, and the entire plaza will be terraced down toward the beach to maximize the ocean view from the highway.

Half the $12-million project is being paid for by Duke’s, with the city paying the rest out of park-improvement money, funds from an oil-spill settlement and $3 million in bonds it issued in April.

Hagan said city officials believe the plaza will immediately pay for itself. With the income from the Duke’s lease, the ATM lease, parking fees and fees from special events, the city expects to make at least $600,000 a year. That’s $80,000 more than the plaza’s annual maintenance and the payment on the bond debt, Hagan said.

“This is going to be beautiful,” said Councilwoman Pam Julien, who lives downtown, and is looking forward to walking her sheltie puppy along the plaza, soaking up some rays and listening to jazz concerts at the amphitheater.

“This is really the beginning of an era,” she said. “It’s going to dress up the area, obviously. I’m so used to seeing this old Maxwell’s building, I don’t even see it anymore.”

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Pier Plans

Huntington Beach Pier’s $12-million renovation is set to begin this summer. Improvements include an amphitheater for concerts, more beachfront parking and increased beach access. A look at Surf City’s Pier Plaza:

Source: City of Huntington Beach