Lunada Bay Boy's Clubhouse Demolished Jackhammers taken to 30-year-old structure By Marcus Sanders

Published: November 30, 2016

November 30, 2016 Views: 3,694







Lunada Bay Boy's Clubhouse Demolished Jackhammers taken to 30-year-old structure.





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Related Lunada Bay, November 29th. Note structure on top of point; by the end of the week, it will be totally demolished. Photo: Steve Holt

November 28th. Shortly after this photo was taken, helicopters dropped four jackhammers, a couple generators and assorted other gear to dismantle the structure. Photo: Arthur Young

The heli drop was necessitated by the fact that it'd be impossible to get heavy construction equipment down the narrow switchback trail. Photo: Steve Holt

As far as demo sites go, the tip of the point at Lunada Bay has got to be up there as far as desirable working environments. Video: Arthur Young



I’m not sure what I expected.



Oh. And a couple cop cars parked very conspicuously on the street above the bay. (“We’re always called to monitor any big construction project,” one told me.) And a few wayward journalist types, wandering around, looking for a story. Looking for “the Bay Boys”, who were just as consciously absent. Because today, demolition of their 30-year-old beachside clubhouse started in earnest. And today, I was gonna walk down — solo and boardless — to check it out.



Scrambling down the cliff and along the rock-laden beach, one thing struck me: no trash. Like zero garbage along the shoreline. A few old lobster traps had washed up, but it was otherwise probably a lot like it’d been back before WWI. A couple small fishing boats worked the kelp beds just offshore. One guy was surfing the funky, rock-laden right at the top of the point. And the jackhammers had gone silent. For a place that’s covered in a shroud of anger and lawsuits, it seemed like a little slice of West Coast paradise that somehow managed to exist in the middle of the state’s biggest city.







This is a pretty amazing spot for a demo crew.



There’s a half dozen bags filled with rubble at the top of the steps of the structure. Four jackhammers. Six dudes. A bunch of picks and shovels. All the equipment had been airlifted down by chopper yesterday, and it’ll be airlifted out when it’s finished, which will be later this week.



I asked if they’d had any interactions with any surfers. “These guys came down this morning and said ‘great job’,” one of ‘em said. Another nodded and said everyone had been pretty friendly. One of the crew was a surfer from Dana Point and he’d hoot every time a set came in. “That guy has it wired,” he smiled, referring to the solo local out enjoying his lunch session.



And the structure itself? “That thing was really well built, with terracing and cement and rebar and everything,” the guys said. “I don’t know how they got all this stuff down here, but it really was pretty nice.”



Well built or not, the clubhouse had, over the years, become the symbol for



Plus, according to the



So there’s that. Tearing down the structure could act as a statement that things need to change.



“That the city is moving forward with plans to take down the fort is indeed a good first step,” said Noaki Schwartz, a spokeswoman for the CCC. “We will continue to work to make sure measures are put in place to ensure the public is not discouraged from enjoying Lunada Bay.”



After spending a few hours down there today, I will say it is a place worth enjoying. Time will tell how much things change. At the top of the point, the clubhouse is half-demoed and the crew is on lunch break, enjoying the sunshine, snapping iPhone pics of the beach and surf and no doubt making their co-workers jealous. This is a pretty amazing spot for a demo crew.There’s a half dozen bags filled with rubble at the top of the steps of the structure. Four jackhammers. Six dudes. A bunch of picks and shovels. All the equipment had been airlifted down by chopper yesterday, and it’ll be airlifted out when it’s finished, which will be later this week.I asked if they’d had any interactions with any surfers. “These guys came down this morning and said ‘great job’,” one of ‘em said. Another nodded and said everyone had been pretty friendly. One of the crew was a surfer from Dana Point and he’d hoot every time a set came in. “That guy has it wired,” he smiled, referring to the solo local out enjoying his lunch session.And the structure itself? “That thing was really well built, with terracing and cement and rebar and everything,” the guys said. “I don’t know how they got all this stuff down here, but it really was pretty nice.”Well built or not, the clubhouse had, over the years, become the symbol for localism at Lunada Bay , which has been well documented here and elsewhere. The California Coastal Commission (CCC) threatened Palos Verdes with a lawsuit back in June 2016 to improve public access, and the city unanimously approved the removal of the clubhouse a month later. And with another class action lawsuit brought against the Bay Boys this past August, things continued to get hotter. And the structure — unlike threats, harassment and vandalism — is a very tangible thing to point a finger at.Plus, according to the LA Times , “police reports over the years also show that the shelter, which was constructed without permits near the water’s edge, has repeatedly been the scene of drug and alcohol use.”So there’s that. Tearing down the structure could act as a statement that things need to change.“That the city is moving forward with plans to take down the fort is indeed a good first step,” said Noaki Schwartz, a spokeswoman for the CCC. “We will continue to work to make sure measures are put in place to ensure the public is not discouraged from enjoying Lunada Bay.”After spending a few hours down there today, I will say it is a place worth enjoying. Time will tell how much things change.

I’d never been to Lunada Bay before. And over the decades of rumors, founded and otherwise, I imagined a posse of angry, hoody-and-Ugg-boot-wearing 40-year-old dudes throwing out stink eye (and possibly rocks) at any non-local car that pulled up to check the surf.And while this could very well be true on any other day — especially if the surf was pumping, which it wasn’t — today, Lunada Bay was almost like any other affluent coastal town in California. Late fall sunshine, the kind that’s still sold to shivering East Coasters. Clear all the way to Catalina. Kelp swaying offshore. Coastal sage dotting the cliffside. Mansions lining the cliffs. Could’ve been Solana Beach, Santa Barbara, Laguna: high-end spandexed bikers, fast-walking retirees, dog-walkers…