The Venice Pier Project’s main objective is to act as guardian and watchdog for the Venice Fishing Pier in Venice Beach, CA.

Its primary concerns include the integrity of the Pier itself and the continued maintenance of the Pier’s structure, the quality of surrounding waters and bottom conditions, and the prevention of commercial inroads and commercial interests of any kind on the Pier.

The VPP hopes to ensure that the Pier is alive and well for future generations. It also reaches out to, and works with, both public and private entities to guarantee the health and survival of this unique structure. The VPP intends to see that the Pier is safe, friendly, and accommodating to all – local fishermen, joggers and walkers, tourists, classes, artists, readers, thinkers, sunset watchers, star gazers (until 2:00 AM), and poets.

The VPP encourages free, permitted, events on the Pier and promotes gatherings of all ages, interests, disciplines, and creeds.

Our pier has had several incarnations but the current structure, built in 1965, was partially destroyed by the storms of 1983 and subsequently closed. A hard working group of locals and local pols dedicated themselves, their energy and resources, to retro-fitting and reopening the Pier. In October of 1997, she was reopened amid festivity and fanfare. Today, the Venice Fishing Pier is an important local and tourist attraction. It remains non-commercial and is much frequented, revered and respected as a local and tourist attraction.

Abbot Kinney’s Windward Avenue Pier about 1910.

Despite the fact that the existing Venice Fishing Pier is a relatively recent construction, there were many early piers (now long gone) in the vicinity. Around 1895, the Santa Fe Railroad is said to have built a 500 foot iron pipe pier at the western end of Hill Street in Ocean Park, a pier that was so disappointing to Abbott Kinney, it apparently spurred his building of a 1250 foot pier at Pier Avenue three years later. And Mr. Kinney, who most of us think of solely as the founder of Venice of America and the creator of the Venice Canals, then became the builder of the first pier in Venice, the Windward Avenue Pier. While it was destroyed by storms even as it was being built in 1905, Kinney persevered and the structure was ready for its grand opening on July 4th of that year.

Kinney’s Windward pier had a variety of attractions including an auditorium, an aquarium, a dance hall, a zoo, an ostrich farm, and an observation tower, as well as commercial stalls for fresh fish and handicrafts. It was a popular place until, in December of 1920, a fire decimated most of the structure. It was rebuilt but was now less a civic attraction and considerably more commercial. The pier, with ever changing attractions, was maintained in one form or another until 1946 when it was closed for what seem to have been safety reasons. It then burned in 1947 while in the process of being dismantled, and by the early 1950s, all visible remains were removed from the beach.

Other piers had been built in the area by that time. The Million Dollar Pier, The Ocean Park Pickering Pleasure Pier, the Sunset Pier, the Lick Pier at Navy, all had their day in the sun but were gone by the 1950s. Only the Ocean Park Pier, which was built on the site of the Million Dollar Pier and had been incorporated into Pacific Ocean Park (aka: POP), lasted into to the 1960s but it too finally closed in 1967, falling victim to its waning popularity and, rather predictably, another fire. This left only the Santa Monica Pier, several miles to the north, in operation

The Venice Fishing Pier in 2017

It is the Venice Pier Project’s intention to bring the history of the current Venice Fishing Pier up to date in the very near future. There is not much on line or on internet-accessible archives about the decision to build a new pier at the end of Washington Blvd. We know that the construction was started in 1963 and completed in 1965 but are lacking details on the essentials. We are investigating these details and will add them when we can verify the facts.

We do know the following:

1965: The Venice Fishing Pier opened. Ta da!
1986: Closed (after “chunks of concrete from the underside of the pier were said to have fallen near beachgoers) and scheduled for demolition.
1997: Re-opened by public demand (the efforts of a group called “Pier Pressure” and Councilwoman Ruth Galanter) after extensive retrofitting.
2005: Damaged by storms and its restrooms swept away, it was again closed to the public.
2006: After repairs, it re-opened.
2017: Anniversary festivities for the Pier’s 20 year re-opening were held on the pier. Robert Davis (RAP, Venice Beach Superintendent) announced that the City Department of Public Works was preparing an assessment of the current condition of the Pier.
2018: June. A fire started under the pier and caused damage to the structure nearest the shore.
The City Council approved $5 million for retrofitting and additional $ for fire related damage.

Sources:

Venice California ‘Coney Island of the Pacific’ by Jeffrey Staunton.
Los Angeles Daily News, June 27th, 2018. “LA OKs $5 million…”
LA Times, February 16, 2006, “Venice Pier’s Future…”

Me on the morning of April 22, 2018 before my accident.

About 10 years ago, I had a brain injury that left me physically and mentally disabled. I had many months of rehabilitation but finally realized that I would probably not be able to hold down a normal job and this was pretty depressing.

I had grown up in the Venice Beach area and my longtime great friend, Jesse Martinez was working hard at the Venice Skate Park, volunteering his time and energy to a place and cause he believed in. I started helping Jesse with cleaning the Skate Park and he helped me adjust to my disabilities. It made me feel useful and gave me a small sense of purpose. I looked south to the Venice Fishing Pier one day and thought that it too needed a local advocate, a friend and…a good cleaning!

The Pier and I were both born in 1965 and we had similar issues. We started off well and then were kind of left to take care of ourselves. I thought we were a good fit, everything considered, and thought that I might be able to do for the Pier what Jesse had done for the Skate Park. I probably have not succeeded in this but I think I’m giving it a good try.

I started out by just cleaning up what the regular cleaning crew could not handle; they could not be there every minute of every day and I tried to help out. I swept, and shoveled, threw out trash, righted overturned garbage cans, removed small graffiti, and sometimes helped people in trouble. I realized that lots of visitors needed direction and often just appreciated a cheery “good morning”. I could do that! People started coming to me and asking for information, they reported graffiti, things (or sometimes people) that they thought were dangerous, and the fishermen liked to share fishing info with me. I became a source of Pier help and Pier information.

Me at the Marina Hospital about 6 hours after my swim that morning. Kind of subdued.

Then, in 2015, I decided that maybe I should make my Pier passion official. I started the Venice Pier Project. I picked April 1st (yes, I know, April Fool’s Day) as my launch date and I started encouraging others to volunteer on the Pier. I noticed that Matt Klein had been married on the Pier and thought that I should encourage others to celebrate here too. I found out how to get permits for these events and gatherings. The VPP’s “Let’s Go Fishing” breakfast in 2017 was a big success (food contributed by Jimmy Dean Sausages with a rather small fish winning first prize) and the Pier 20th Re-Opening celebration later that year was enjoyed by everyone who attended, including pier frequenters, police, neighbors, and guest speakers former councilwoman Ruth Galanter, Tom Ford of the Bay Foundation, Captain Jay Roberts of the LAPD , Frank Maddox of Pier Pressure fame and others.

The year 2018 was a mixed bag for me and the VPP. I broke my leg and ankle in April and it’s been a long recovery. I am still in a boot as I write, but the good news is that the Pier got $5 million for retrofitting! The Pier and I, born in the same year, are damaged but on the mend.