Located in Los Angeles County, California, the area attracts a wide range of beach enthusiasts. Tourists from around the world blend in unnoticed by the large number of regular visitors. Many locals make daily pilgrimages to the shoreline to watch activities at the famed "muscle beach" or participate in the competitive games at Chess Park.

With its close proximity to Hollywood, Santa Monica Beach has become a place of theater and performance. A place where the rituals of nature and culture are absorbed and celebrated. These performances, like the tides themselves, ebb and flow with varying frequencies and amplitude according to the patterns of weather, light, and human impulse.

The City of Santa Monica committed over $7 million to a restoration project that ensured the conservation of many historical aspects at the beach, while also adding new and impressive features. The Beach Improvement Group (or B.I.G.) focused on improving the areas of South Beach and Palisades Park.

Wallace, Roberts and Todd, Inc. in San Diego, California, along with New York Artist Jody Pinto, created a design that attempts to facilitate the ebb and flow of the ocean. The renovation produced symbolic "stages" to showcase the natural and cultural performances that are a considerable part of Santa Monica's unique and civic persona.

"The goal was to have art integrated into the project rather than having stand alone pieces," said Rick Espe of Wallace, Roberts and Todd, Inc., the Landscape Architect on the project. In order to accomplish this difficult task, the team created a unique connection between the sea, the sand, and the beachfront.

The new design facilitates activity among visitors of the beach, while maintaining a unique and creative appearance. "The whole project focused around art," said Burton Sperber, president and founder of Environmental Industries, Inc., the parent company of Valley Crest, in Calabasas, California, the Landscape Contractor on the project.

Therefore, a standard walkway had to not only be functional, but it also had to have an artistic look. "The City specified that each element maintain an art focus. For example, the decomposed granite chosen for the walkway in the Park had to be a specific color that contained a certain amount of sparkling mica," said Sperber. "This is truly an all encompassing site work project."

The project was so comprehensive that the team needed to juggle many different aspects of the construction. When work at the Palisades Park was finished, the focus moved to the South Beach boardwalk where a crew began installing new play equipment and site furnishings, building palisades walls, and installing promenade paving.

"We were doing concrete work, building architecturally impactive walls, installing jogging lanes, bike paths and medians, playground equipment and furniture, special "shell concrete", doing the landscape, installing bench and playground equipment, the waterworks...we even built bathrooms," said Sperber.

During the peak construction period, Valley Crest had a landscape crew of over 75 workers on site doing everything from grading and concrete work, to difficult landscape tasks. Ultimately, the crew of professionals were able to turn the designer's vision into a reality.

"During the grand opening of the park an elderly, long time resident of Santa Monica approached me and said he didn't think the park could get any better. He said the park is more beautiful now than he ever could have imagined. That's what makes all the trials, tribulations and late nights worth while," said Espe.

SOUTH BEACH IMPROVEMENTS

The South Beach boardwalk stretches along the shoreline allowing great views of people engaging in all of the activities of the beach. The overall objective of this portion of the project was to redesign and upgrade a portion of South Beach which extends south from the Santa Monica Pier down Bay Street.

From the boardwalk, the horizon is implied and the ocean hidden. Yet the boardwalk also changes from sunrise to sunset depending on the rhythms of people. With its loud, kinetic, and spontaneous drama, South Beach showcases everyday life. The boardwalk is designed to act as a collection of open, flexible venues for the impromptu people performances that take place at varies times throughout the day.

The new features to South Beach were not meant to be intrusive or overbearing. The designer felt that the recreational elements should not "mark" a site, as much as provide the opportunity for visitors to "make" a site.

Whether it's choosing a section of wall to sit or stand on, or gathering chairs on a certain portion of the pavement, or parading under a palm tree, the features of the boardwalk are meant to encourage movement and increase the tempo of the area.

Paving and Seat Walls

Ocean Front Walk is a pathway that curves along the beach passing expanded activity areas such as Chess Park and the famed Muscle Beach. The existing asphalt on the 20-foot pathway was replaced with architecturally enhanced concrete paving. This new two-tone pathway was top-seated with abalone shell and salmon bay aggregate to create the same glimmering effect of the ocean. At certain times of the day, visitors can witness how the material in the paving reflects light in the same way that the ocean reflects the sun's rays.

The process used to create this paving was newly developed specifically for this project. The "shell concrete" was created by crushing abalone shells into small pieces with an asphalt roller. The different tones in the pavement were created by changing the color of the sand in the concrete mix. The mixture was then handseeded to create the shimmering look.

Another important improvement made on the South Beach boardwalk was to create 32 walls totalling over 1,600 linear feet along the pathway. The palisades walls have a unique look evoking the beach sedimentation process. This special look was created by water blasting wet concrete and adding beach pebbles. To produce a feeling of space and movement, the designers varied the size of the walls along the pathway. The walls were designed to look as though they've been part of the boardwalk for a long time.

Muscle Beach and Chess Park

With its gymnastic rings and bars, historic Muscle Beach is the former beach workout site for body builders Jack LaLanne and Vic and Armand Tanny. Located just south of the world-famous Santa Monica Pier, the area was included in the B.I.G. restoration project in an effort to restore the area to its 1950's glory. Muscle Beach was relocated to a nearby area to allow for more open space. All new equipment was added, along with a grass area for tumbling.

People in various stages of physical fitness use the equipment to work-out while enjoying spectacular ocean views. The children's play area north of Muscle Beach was expanded to include separate sections and exercise equipment appropriate for the different stages of child development. The oversized beach "pebbles" in one section of the Children's Playground create a dramatic visual addition to the site.

Located just west of Muscle Beach is a place known as the International Chess Park. The area consists of chess tables of various sizes. The park hosts hundreds of matches each day featuring players from beginners to masters. Chess Park was expanded to include additional small and large tables. A custom designed large chessboard was installed on the ground with a storage area for the "life-size" chess pieces.

Additional South Beach Improvements

The Beach Bike Path attracts bikers, roller bladers, windboarders, joggers, and walkers of all ages. From sun-up to sunset visitors and locals alike move and glide along its impressive 22 mile-long trail.

As part of the South Beach improvement project, the trail was widened from 14" to 20" in the area between the Pier to Bay Street. For safety purposes, the bike path crossings are marked with colored concrete, signage, and bollards. There is also an additional, separate pathway strictly for pedestrians or other non-wheeled activities.

The overhaul to South Beach included adding new custom concrete light poles, benches, trash receptacles, drinking fountains, and restrooms. Also, attention was paid to improving the coastal accessibility to all people including disabled visitors.

Taking the design team's plan and interpreting that vision into realistic construction techniques was the main challenge for this portion of the project. "On the beach, it was a very creative, subjective process where things that had never been done before had to be accomplished while building the artistic vision of what the beach should look like," according to Dick Bruttig, of Valley Crest, Los Angeles, adding, "whereas, in the park, we were dealing with a very historic life that we had to make new again."

PALISADES PARK IMPROVEMENTS

Palisade Park is a 100-year-old park along Ocean Avenue that has long been a favorite gathering place for locals and newcomers alike. The park is actually a cliff-top, 26-acre area that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. Enhanced by spectacular views of the sea, the park is 9,000 feet long, covers 26 acres, and has a width that varies from 30 feet to 150 feet.

Palisades Park is one of the most famous and scenic of all Santa Monica's parks, complete with lush greenery, palm shaded benches, and areas for walking and jogging. Formerly known as Linda Vista Park (Spanish for lovely view), the park's first plantings included eucalyptus and cypress trees.

Most of the park was donated in 1892 by the City's founders, Senator John P. Jones and Col. Robert S. Baker. Five years later, the remainder of the park was donated by the Santa Monica Land and Water Company.

The first proposal for the park was created by prominent Landscape Architect L.G. LeGrande with the idea of creating a European-style park with formal gardens, walkways, and fountains. But this original plan was discarded because various organizations didn't want the existing trees to be removed.

The recent changes to the park are not as dramatic as the changes made to South Beach because most of the major renovations are underground. The drainage system was re-designed to direct surface run-off away from the bluff and toward a new storm drain system. Also, the old irrigation system was replaced with a fully automated "water on demand" system. This system conserves water, reduces over-spray, and decreases excess runoff.

The objective of the refurbishment project was to restore and preserve the unique character of Palisades Park. The main challenge was to renovate the park while maintaining its 100-year-old look. Elements of design were meant to reinforce the identity of the park as an urban open space. The Landscape Architect's intent was to give the historical items and art pieces a suitable backdrop.

Since the new design was not meant to change the existing charm or history of the park, the changes made were very subtle and discreet. The positioning of benches, picnic tables, drinking founatins, pathways, and plant life could help reveal the park's collection of historical monuments and natural performances. With correct positioning, these elements could reinforce the unique qualities of the environment.

In order to fully respect the park, an effort was made to retain all existing trees, memorials, and landmarks. Amazingly, only one existing tree had to be removed. The new plants, shrubs and turf are all water conserving species.

Inspiration Point

Originally known as Sunset Point, Inspiration Point is at the northernmost section of the park and has long been a favorite place for enjoying ocean views. The true "inspiration" was setting aside this parcel of land for a park. When Senator Jones and Colonel Baker gave the original land to the City of Santa Monica in 1892, the westerly side was open scrub and the side adjacent to Ocean Avenue was densely planted.

The goal of the renovation was to return Inspiration Point to the more "natural" landscaping, with underplantings of native and drought tolerant shrubs. By bringing back the natural landscape, Inspiration Point reinforces the city edge with dense tree plantings.

Picnic tables were scattered under the trees and in the open, offering a choice of either sun and shade to picnickers. An overlook was also provided, reorienting the viewer to the Pacific Ocean views.

Throughout the Park, there are many jogging and walking trails for visitors. The asphalt of the previous walkway was removed and replaced with decomposed granite. The jogging path was continued along the edge of Ocean Avenue for the entire length of the park.

Edge paths were provided along with the main path in wider portions of the park. The decomposed granite chosen for the walkway in the park had to be a specific color containing a certain amount of naturally occurring mica so that it would sparkle.

Park Monuments

The historic structure known as the Pergola, which sits in the center of the park, was restored to reflect its original carpentry and color. Originally tucked behind an undistinguished landscape, the Pergola is a prime example of turn-of-the-century garden architecture.

The timbered pergola was built prior to 1912, opposite the 900 block on Ocean Ave. In 1984, the structure was dismantled and rebuilt on a concrete base to combat deterioration.

As part of the B.I.G. Project, the Pergola was highlighted with a small plaza, decorative planting, and a defined overlook. The twining plants and latticing of this popular resting spot provide unique frames for views of the coastline and the park itself.

Located near the Pergola is the newly renovated Rose Garden. Installed prior to 1950, the area is a circular garden which contains 13 varieties of hybrid tea roses. One of the most serene areas of Palisades Park, the garden is home to another monument of the Park. In 1987, the bust of Arcadia Bandini de Baker was placed in the garden in recognition of her generous donation of land to the people of Santa Monica.

The Rose Garden is highlighted by concentric paths, diverting through traffic around the garden and preserving its repose. The large sunny lawn area to the east of the path was preserved for picnic and play areas. Landscape to the west of the path was dedicated to "xeric" plant materials, emphasizing native materials.

The team in charge of the restoration salvaged as many original roses as possible. As with the other areas of the project, great effort was made to maintain and conserve the natural and historical features to the park.

As a result of the B.I.G. Project, the improvements made to both Palisades Park and the South Beach boardwalk have ensured that the public has a place to watch and participate in the unique culture of Santa Monica Beach.

These changes and renovations were specifically designed to create an environment for spontaneous movement. An environment where the natural performances of human behavior can be revealed and applauded. An environment where even the most inhibited visitors can lose themselves in the activity of the moment.

With the new design, the shoreline has become an integral part of the sea. And the people at the beach, are now part of the movement in the ocean. LASN