Santa Monica Pier

Charles Looff

Santa Monica Pier

September 9, 1909

Concrete

The Santa Monica Pier has much to offer from food to live entertainment. It has become a tourist attraction bringing forms of art that vary from, musical performances, street performers, family amusement, and now even an aquarium all open to the public.



The pier has been a tourist attraction for years bringing millions of people to its location yearly. It has also brought a set to many Television films and Music videos over the years ranging from Forrest Gump, The Incredible Hulk, Star Trek, a variety of kids shows, GTA, Midnight Club, music videos by musicians Isaiah Rashad, MC Hammer Maroon 5 and more. The pier has been reconstructed time and time again since it’s opening to the public in 1909, which brings it to the attraction it is today and all the special offerings it has for visitors in store.

Santa Monica Pier is located at the most western point of the United States. It is a huge boardwalk that hovers over the beach and into the ocean. Through constant remodeling over the years it is now home of many different things going on simultaneously. It is an amusement park with a ferris wheel, a rollercoaster, and other rides. It is a food court. It is a performance space for local artists. It is a tourist attraction where a steady flow of people continually circulate, bringing the attention of over four million people annually.



Arriving at entrance to the pier, you are greeted by a large blue arch that reads “Santa Monica Yacht Harbor, Sport Fishing, Boating, Cafes.” Passing under the arch, the pavement continues over a bridge that passes over the famous Pacific Coast Highway. As the road dies into the beach, the pavement ends and the wooden pier begins. People can walk or drive their cars onto the pier and park on the left, in a designated parking lot. Continue walking and you will see restaurants, food trucks, an old-fashioned carousel, crafters and artist booths, and an amusement park. Further into the ocean, the pier extends and ends at a Mexican restaurant and a harbor office for first aid and water safety. Just past this, the pier holds one more surprise...a second level, down a few steps, closer to the water level for observation. Turning back to look at where you have been, you can see under the pier and the shoreline.

Gerardo Navarro

Axel Sarti

Anthony Miliitchin

Diane Mejia

Helen Quinteros

Jacob Burger

Ehsan Rezaei Rozveh

Nancy Alvarez

Jarrod Romero

Omar Farah

Christian Hernandez

Jenna Lee

The entrance arch that reads “Santa Monica Yacht Harbor, Sport Fishing, Boating, Cafes” relates to historic art pieces such as “The Arch of Titus” where much more detail is implied but the same concept is to come across. The entrance to the pier is a celebratory triumph for a project that took months to build in completion and years of hard work and continuous renovation. The Arch of Titus is triumphal for the fact that it was an arch built in remembrance to commemorate the past victories of former emperors.