Proposal to Expand Ocean Discovery Center Makes Big Splash

By Jorge Casuso

Plans to expand the UCLA Ocean Discovery Center at the Santa Monica Pier made a big splash with pier officials when it was unveiled Wednesday night.

Under the proposal, the four-year-old center would swell from 4,000 square feet beneath the pier to 30,000 square feet atop the massive wooden landmark, or approximately two and a half times the size of the carousel.

The $20 million project -- $15 million would go for design and construction and $5 million for program support - met with the enthusiastic approval of the entire Pier Restoration Corporation Board. However, it will likely take at least three years to raise the funds and construct the facility, which needs the approval of City officials.

"This is really in the purest sense of the word an educational experience," said William Spurgin, who chairs the pier board. "This will bring kids during the day."

The expanded facility is expected to draw 200,000 annual visitors and increase the number of school children who tour the Ocean Discovery Center from 20,000 to 80,000 a year. It also will help tackle pollution off the pier, Spurgin said.

"We asked UCLA to help clean up our act," said Spurgin. "Santa Monica Pier is one of the biggest polluters of the bay. The bay and the environment are tied. These guys are some of the biggest (environmental) experts in the world."

Discovery Center director Steven Strand said the expansion would not draw many additional visitors to the pier because the center is not a large aquarium, such as the one in Long Beach. Instead, it will attract those who come to the pier for other activities.

"This is really an educational facility not a public aquarium," Strand said. "This is not an entertainment venue, this is not a destination. I just can't imagine someone coming and parking to walk through something that takes an hour" to see.

Center officials said that the current location beneath the pier is not conducive to weekend visitor traffic and that, as a result, current revenue has not met expectations.

UCLA likely will team up with a new not-for-profit group to seek funds from the state, foundations and private philanthropy. Officials said they are encouraged by initial discussions with potential funding sources.

"Over a million children are enrolled in the grade schools of greater Los Angeles," said a statement released by the center. "Many of these (children) grow up in the inner city and have never seen the ocean, touched an animal other than a dog or cat, or have any idea about the importance of the ocean to their community and daily lives."

The proposal comes one week after a gunman wounded three police officers and three civilians during a hostage takeover at the pier. The incident has spurred calls from neighbors to change the venues on the landmark structure, which draws 3 million visitors a year.

At Wednesday's meeting Lt. Betsy Stratton, who is in charge of policing the pier, gave a detailed account of the early morning July 4 incident and subsequent police response.

Stratton said that there were five to six officers on the pier when the San Bernardino Sheriffs Department called to report that a suspect in three gang slayings was on the pier.

"All we know is that this man was avoiding arrest," said Stratton, who also is one of the two members of the Officer Involved Shooting detail. "He was avoiding all the eastern jurisdictions that were already looking for him."

A total of 20 officers were on the pier when suspect Joseph Flores was arrested near a pay phone he used to respond to a beeper call from the sheriff's department.

As police made the arrest a second suspect also wanted in the three slayings, Oswaldo Amezcua, exited the Playland Arcade and spotted his friend being taken into custody.

"He went back in," Stratton said. "We had officers in the front and in the back" of the arcade.

Stratton said that Amezcua's description "matched a lot of the people" inside the arcade at the time. When shots were fired, Stratton said, someone came running out of the arcade distracting the officers, two of whom were hit by gunfire.

"He (Amezcua) was shooting from inside out," Stratton said. "He hit two citizens at one time."

Amezcua held 15 hostages for nearly six hours inside the arcade, Stratton said. After he turned himself in, police interviewed 300 people and conducted 16 simultaneous operations, closing the pier down for 12 hours.

"We had to photograph and collect everything," Stratton said. "This is probably the easiest incident as far as people saying, 'Whatever you need.'"