JERRY PERSON:Our landmark pier has had an interesting past

For those who live in other states, the mere mention of Huntington Beach conjures up one image: our landmark pier.

It isn’t our shopping centers, rows of cracker box houses or those billion-dollar mansions that bring people to Huntington Beach. Out-of-town visitors rush to see the mighty Pacific Ocean from the top of our pier and to take a quiet rest just watching the tide ebb and flow.

Huntington’s pier has been a magnet for tourists since the first wooden pier was constructed for Pacific City, our town’s original name, in 1901.

A second pier was built when the first one went down in a storm in the same spot where our pier is today.

But Mother Nature’s fury doomed that pier also, and plans were started for a third one by 1911, when a bond issue was passed.

By 1914, we had the longest concrete pier on the West Coast, and don’t think we didn’t boast about that to visitors.

The pier has stood at the end of Main Street for visitors to admire and for residents and city officials to dream about ways to make it better and expand its use.

At one time, the city had constructed an all-glass solarium on the end so visitors could sit in warm comfort in the dead of winter and watch the golden sunsets slide into the far horizon.

Throughout the years, many novel ideas have been proposed to transform our pier.

At one time, a fishing boat was anchored at the far end to take willing fishermen to a barge out in the ocean.

In the 1950s, Herb and Lon’s sport fishing, the Elise II — and later Bill Wantz’s boat and the Sur-Fish — were anchored there and took fisherman out to the barge for a day of fishing.

Buildings were added to the top of the pier, most notable being Ed and Tip’s Bait and Tackle shop in the 1930s, Vern’s Bait and Tackle and Carl Christiansen’s Carl’s Bait Shop in the 1950s.

By the 1970s, Ella Christiansen’s two concession buildings — Neptune’s Locker and the Captain’s Galley — gave visitors a chance to relax with a beer and watch the sun set.

Who among us has forgotten those huge hamburgers made at John Gustafson’s End Café, where Ruby’s is located today?

His burgers seemed about three times wider as Ruby’s, and were far cheaper.

These were ideas and dreams that became reality, but there were many others that burst forth and never got off the drawing table — or at least not yet.

The late Rusty Shepard once convinced a relative back East that our pier extended from our shore to that of Catalina Island, and that cars could drive back and forth to that popular vacation spot.

Not a bad idea. I can see it now, a gas station in the middle pumping overpriced gas and a couple of Bob Mandic’s tow trucks parked alongside to aid stranded motorists.

But some of the strangest ideas for the pier came in 1922 from some our most prominent citizens.

At a banquet held in April of that year, our Chamber of Commerce Secretary M.A. McCreery said he had been working on plans to pay for the extension of the pier by using funds appropriated for the new city hall and auditorium.

He told those gathered there that his idea would make all other piers look like 10 cents.

His plan called for adding an acre of cement pilings to extend the pier another 500 feet, and on top of this would be built a four-story building.

The first floor would house a dance hall, a movie theater and concessions.

The second floor would be used for lodge meetings — such as the American Legion — and would also house a 1,500-seat auditorium.

The third and fourth floors would house a first-class hotel with at least 300 deluxe rooms.

McCreery even went on to suggest that Jimmy Rogan be made hotel manager.

The roof of the building would serve as a landing spot for an airplane, and this plane could double as a fire apparatus.

Sol White, owner of Huntington Beach Laundry, jokingly suggested renting the basement, as this would save labor to be so close to an ample supply of water.

City Trustees Drew, Obarr, Macklin and Onson consented to giving Huntington High’s baseball and track athletes and Coach Ray Walker apartments in the hotel.

Trustee C.J. Andrew even suggested that apartments be furnished for all the city trustees, and I’m sure our City Council would go for that idea today.

Street Superintendent Louis Gates suggested that an apartment be furnished for street superintendent, too.

J.M. Barlow, the manager of our municipal plunge, suggested that a chute be constructed from the hotel roof to his plunge so people could slide over, instead of having to walk on the hot sand.

Trustee R.L. Obarr suggested that loudspeakers be added to the roof so people on the beach could hear the latest news and music by radio.

Another suggestion at the banquet was to use part of the second floor for the police station and to give Chief Jack Tinsley an apartment for his use in the hotel.

With the way our city spends tax dollars, why not try some of these ideas that could bring millions of dollars to our city?

I’ve got a thought. Why not extend the pier farther out and since Europe isn’t using the Concorde SST any longer, let’s bring it here to fly to the south seas and back. That part of the pier could be used as an airport, as McCreery had suggested more than 80 years ago.

I know it’s only a dream, but as you can see, our city officials never stop dreaming of ways to use our landmark pier.