Foundation Brings Hope to Stalled Beach Club

By Jorge Casuso

May 27 -- A flagging plan to resurrect the dilapidated City-run estate at 415 PCH as a public beach club has been given a significant boost by a philanthropic foundation, the City announced Wednesday.

The Annenberg Foundation entered into discussions with the City several months ago when it learned City officials were contemplating partnering with private developers to fund the $16.7 million renovation of the 5-acre parcel owned by the State.

“I have worked pretty extensively with the staff of the foundation to let them know what the policy framework is for the site as approved by the City Council,” said Barbara Stinchfield, who heads the City’s Department of Community and Cultural Services.

“The fact that we’ve proceeded this far is that their goals and the City’s goals as approved by council are in sync,” Stinchfield said. “It’s purely a philanthropic effort which is from our point of view a wonderful opportunity to… preserve (the site) for public use.”

The talks have renewed the enthusiasm of Council members, who watched as the State’s budget woes dispelled their dream of turning the earthquake battered structure into a public beach club, plaza and park on the breathtaking site beneath the bluffs of the Palisades at the northern edge of the city.

“This is potentially very good news,” said Council member Michael Feinstein, who along with Council member Ken Genser sat on the task force that crafted the City’s plan for the site.

“Given the absence of state funding… hopefully this will give us a chance to bring this site into public use as soon as possible,” Feinstein said.

Before the foundation stepped in, the City -- which saw the prospect of State funding dwindle as California’s budget woes grew -- had unsuccessfully lobbied for Federal monies and was turning, as a last resort, to partnering with a private developer.

Last December, “faced with financial realities,” the council was presented with a staff recommendation to seek from the private sector the funding “necessary to generate sufficient revenues to rehabilitate the site.”

That’s when the Annenberg Foundation -- which granted a total of $200 million to 40 groups across the country last year -- stepped in.

“The Foundation’s initial interest stemmed from news that the City might entertain commercial partnerships in development of the site,” City officials wrote in a statement released Wednesday.

“The Foundation subsequently initiated contact with the City to determine if it could play a role in ensuring that commercial interests do not compromise broad public access,” the statement said.

The discussions come five years after the City Council voted for a proposed design that would retain much of what is left of the old estate newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst built for actress Marion Davies in 1929, including the North House designed by the renown California architect Julia Morgan.

Battered by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the vacant site had fallen into disrepair. The decking and the exterior of the locker rooms were already rotting, the ceiling in the banquet room was giving way, and the decks around the pool were buckling and cracking.

The proposed project -- which boasts a cavernous banquet center with a sweeping ocean view, community meeting rooms and plenty of beach access -- was greeted with almost giddy enthusiasm when it was first presented.

The project would restore and upgrade the site of the old Sand and Sea Club, which since the early 1960s was a popular gathering place where locals could swim, exercise and socialize.

The Foundation -- which has expressed a commitment to the major goals of the Council-approved reuse plan -- is “intrigued with the historical significance of the site and the role it has played in the lives of many community members,” according to the City’s statement.

“The Foundation has focused on understanding the City and State policy framework as well as realistically evaluating site conditions and constraints in order to determine the level of Foundation funding that would make for a viable project,” the statement said.