Guest Column*/Rick Wallace
Within 200 feet of the intersection of Webb Way/PCH are approximately 88 poles, posts, signs and other things sticking out of the ground. And that’s without an election.
Fifty years ago in Malibu: There were 1,600 telephones in existence, and service was about to be extended to the Zuma area; an editorial in The Malibu Times urged the installation of a life guard emergency boat in Malibu, the nearest rescue boat was 45 minutes away; the fire station at the Malibu Colony was completed and dedicated.
The extremist environmentalists in Malibu who claim they love the city so deeply while they sue it, deny it ball fields and urgent care facilities, and disrupt every plan that hints of progress reminds me of the doting parent so concerned for their child’s safety and well being, they lock him in a closet his whole life. Apparently, the voters agreed.
Four restaurants on the beach along the PCH, all gone. The commercial stretch of Carbon Beach, with its beautiful view of the pier, has seen four restaurant locations close. The space of Tonga Lei/Don the Beachcomber is now the Malibu Beach Inn. The Nantucket Light/Carlos & Pepe’s/Windsail location has been closed for years, as has Alice’s, and now the Pierview.
Just another chance, again, to say thank you to Pepperdine. Thank you for maintaining such a beautiful front lawn.
Imagine Beau Rivage as an automotive repair shop! That’s what it was, originally. The east side of Corral Canyon was home to a gas station where the Turkoise Boutique Shop is now, and the Beaurivage was the repair shop building. Then it turned into a cafe and later become the original location for the Coral Beach Cafe, now at Zuma. I always wondered about the naming. The Coral Beach cafe was never near any coral, but was across the street from Corral Beach. Somebody forgot an “r”. Malibu Glass, now behind Webster School, was in the Turkoise building for a spell. Daniel & Luciana Forge have owned the Beaurivage site for 25 years now. The gas station location is long gone; one of at least eight Malibu locations that I recall once had gas pumps.
There is no place on earth more beautiful than a crisp, clean sunny January or February day in Malibu with islands and mountains clearly visible in the far distance. And now, the yucky fog.
Remember “Don’t cook tonight, call Chicken Delight”? Malibu’s Chicken Delight was opened 40 years ago in the location of current Malibu Chicken next to Spic ‘N Span cleaners (which was already there and has remained since 1964). Also at that time: A January vote for cityhood was defeated, 1,161-994; a film was shown to locals at Webster Elementary School highlighting the Dodgers recent sweep of the Yankees in the World Series in conjunction with Little League signups; a full-day fishing boat on “The Gentleman” out of Paradise Cove cost $7.
Have you noticed the mini “Field of Dreams” baseball infield in the exposed backyard on Point Dume?
One of Malibu’s most beautiful sites is virtually ignored. It is a place of sheer serenity, ideal for strolls on a boardwalk, but there is no such structure. Have you ever looked closely at the creek behind the Cross Creek shopping center? It is beautiful. It has width, with lots of birds and tree-lined banks. The view from Guido’s partly captures its grandeur. What a great place it would be to have a boardwalk and shops facing the creek, rather than facing the parking lot. And imagine a boardwalk that rambled all around the Civic Center, and up to the pier, with miles of walking and biking paths. It will happen someday. Someday, Malibu will be better than it is now.
Another indication of the raging local real estate market: About 150 homes are for sale and available in all of Malibu, Topanga and Monte Nido. Another 100 homes are also for sale-but already in escrow. The number of condo listings under $600,000 has been one here, one there, all selling quickly.
Sad to say, but the Civic Center greenhouses should be torn down. A relic from nearly half a century ago is now an eyesore. The two large dilapidated green houses at the top of Stuart Ranch Road bring back memories of the days that much of the rear portion of the Civic Center area was a plant nursery. The structures serve no purpose now.
Thirty years ago in 1974, there was debate over the proposed condo project in the hills near the junction of Las Flores and Rambla Pacifico. It called for 17 units in a three-story building, never to be. The Sea View Estates came soon after in practically the same area. Another spring ’74 proposal saw fruition: the Nike missile base at that same location was to become a fire camp; meanwhile, Union Federal Bank announced plans to build a new bank at PCH/Webb Way in Spanish-Mediterranean style. The Coldwell Banker office is there now; Malibu Movie Theater prices: Adults, $2.50, Children, $1.
* Arnold York is taking a break. His column will return next week.