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-8-The original tt act on which the amusement center wasbuilt was 33 acres, bounded on the north by Ventura Place,on the south by San Fernando Place, on the east by MissionBay and on the west by the public beach and the PaoificOcaan,The park was to occupy the land on both sides ofMission Boulevard, although the concessions planned on theeast side of Miss.ion Boulevard were never actually developed,Until about 1956, the two sections were connected by a pedestrian subway whd:oh passed under thetracks of the electricrailway,'rhe electric railway tracks passed over the subwayon ornamental artificial stone bridges.The formal dedication of the Mission Beach AmusementCenter was the evening of May 28, 1925,Acting as Masterof Ceremonies for the evening was Carl H. Heilbron.admission for opem::hng night was 1. 50.GeneralSupper tickets werealso available to attend the dedication ceremonies in the'bath house and the casino,Ceremonies began with a programof water sports in the bath house at 8 p.m., then moved tothe dance casino for a short dedicatory address by Statesnator Ed. P, Sample, followed by dancing until 1 s.m.Theopeing musical number was the "Mission Beach Fox Trot",composed for the event by Herbert S, Burns, General !VJanagerof Amusements and Concessions for the Mission Beach Company.The major divisions of the amusement center at the timeof the opening were the Natatorium (bath house, now known asthe Miss ion Beach Plunge) , the dance casino and cafes, theroller skating rink and Luna Park (amusement rides anddevices),Planned for the future were an auditorium forconventions and theatricalprodt ctions,an hotel, a sta-dium for water sports and an ice skating rink. which would

-9-complete the Spreckels' vision of a comblned tourlst and1convention center, These were never built. In additionto the main buildings and the amusement area were theMidway, a wide "Prado", a railway terminal, parkil'!lg areas,public comfort stations and ornamental street lighting.The Natatorium (Plunge), which still stands and is stillin use under the direction of the City of San Diego Department of Parks and Recreation, is 365 feet long and 355 feetwide, covering 2Renaissance,1/ acres.The architecture is SpanishThe entire structure is essentially fire-proof - e x1ll;erior of stucco and artificial stone, steelcolumns and trusses, interior tile walls and a Spanishtile ronf,Along the east and west fronts were rows oflarge col11mns supporting a pergola, to be covered withWisteria vines.Both fromts have large central doorwayfeatures with Spanish ornamentation,The main entranceis on the nori:h side , facing the Prado, and has a largelandscaped patio,A hexagonal kiosk of artificial stoneand colored decorative tile and a Spanish tile roof (nowreplaced by a square cinderblock structure) served as aticket booth for the Natatoriu!ll.There were separateentrances to the left and right of the main entrance formen f.and women who wished to use the pool or dressing rooms.Spectators still enter through a triple-arched centralentranceway, coming into a spacious foyer.A specialterrace was provided for spectators, 225 feet long by100 feet wide, on a mezzanine level,The floor of thisterrace was colored concrete and the ceiling, also ofconcrete, was decorated in gold and black, pompeian reds,

-10-greens andora ges,Prmvisions were also made for lightrefreshments for the spectators.The outer edge of the ter-race had protective wrought iron railing between the 2-storyarches which surround the bathers terrace,The perimeter of the lower terrace, surrounding thepool, is 20 feet wide and was planted with shrubs andflowers, with Italian stone benches for bathers,Thefloors were all of concrete with special non-slip surfacingand crowned walkways for drainage,feet wide by 175 feet long,li edThe pooliitself is 60with white ceramic tiles,Depth is 2 1/2 feet at the shallow end to 9 feet at thedeep end,At the deep end were springboards and a highdiving platform and at the shallow end, still to be seen,a fountain of colored decorative tile,The parapet of thepool is buff-colored handmade Faience non-sli.p tiles intowhich are set co:j.ored Faience .inselbts.The pool willaccomodate up to 2500 bathers, with seating and standingroom for 7500 .in the building.There is also a k.iddiespool ranging in depth from 20 to 30 .inches,Mos t of theroof over the pool was of heavy corrugated wire glass, nowreduced to a narrow skylight.Access to the ocean fromthe pool was through an arcade leading directly to theEsplanade,Returning, one passed through a large footpool and overhead showers to keep sand out of the pool,The water in the pool, salt until the expense of maintenance required a change to fresh in 1940, was heated,filtered and chlorinated.The filtration tanks had acapacity of 60,000 gallons an hour.The main pool holds400,000 gallons of water, about 1/6 of which was recirculated

-11-hourly,Such treated water was slightly less bouyant thanthe water initially drawn from Mission B!liy but remainedjust as salty.For those who did not come dressed to swim, 1150dressing rooms were provided,The dressing rooms werein white enamel, with non-rust hooks, individual mirrors andspring locks nn the doors,There were 2 stories of theserooms on each side of the building.'l.'here were alsotoilets and showers, fresh and salt-water tubs and hot airdrying,3500 bathing suits were available for rental -of wool and 'of the most modern and up-to-date style",Admission to the bath house was free but rental of suits,towels, dressing rooms and lockers: ran 2.5/50 ,for those with suits was 25/15 .Pool useIn-building facilitieswashed ana sterilized the suits, whd:ch were then sun-driedon the roof.The entire building was heated with steam.The boilerplant consisted of two 150-horsepower boilers, oil burners,fresh and salt water heaters, pressure filters, steam lines,transformers and complete laundry equip111ent.On the outer perimeter of the building were locatedabout thirty shops, such as that of L.K. Devain, officialphotographer for the Mission Beach Company, and the MissionBilliard Parlor "for ladies and gentlemen",Next to the bath house on the Ocean Esplanade, thedance casino was similar in exterior appearance,The building290 feet long by 142 feet wide, with 2 stories, the ceilingof the main ballroom being the full two stories in height,At the north and south ends of the building were landscaped

-12-patios with garden furniture for dancers who wished abreath of fresh air.Inside, a hug&c: ornamental orchestra shell occupiedthe end of the ballroom opposite the main entrance,Logeboxes were located around the perimeter of the dance flooron raised platforms.Either side of the main entrance,staircases led to the mezzanine level on which were locatedtwo cafes with private dance floors, special banquet roomsand an area for spectators to overlook the dance floor,From the cafes one had a view of the beach and ocean,The main dance floor was oval, 290 feet by 90 feet,covering 20,160 square feet,The dancing surface was ofmaple, laid in a 3-panel fan design at each end with inlaysof Australian rosewood at intersecting points, so thatdancers turned with the grain of the wood as they turned at eends of the floor,A floor surfacing machine is saidto have been kept at work for 3 weeks to obtain a perfectlevel and finish,Another measure of the care and expenseput into the dance casino was the TWO grand pianos for theballroom,Most of the furnl.ture in the da.nce casino wasespecially commissioned and made in San Diego, in accordancewith the policy of buying San Diego @oods whenever possible,After the grand opening in 1925, the ballroom was open7 days a week for dancing, admission 1.0 (which included 2dance tickets).During the depression years, the popularityof the casino declined, only to revive one hundredfoldduring World War II, when the entire park experience a resurgence of popularity.By the late 1950's, however, theballroom was empty most of the time and became a frequent

-13-target for vandals,Ideas for converting it into an icerink or for other uses fell through and, in 1959, theCity Council finally ordered the dance casino razed as a2structural and fire hazard, In 1960, the present parkinglot was built.East of the bath house and adjacent to the main gatewas the roller skating rink, owned by Edward A. Kickham anderected by Walter Trepte at a cost of 60,000.The buildingis 90 feet by 150 feet, with a skating floor of 80 by 100feet - the largest skating fllor in Southern California. Aseparate floor for beginners was also built.Although thisbuilding still exists, it is presently used to house thebumper-car concession.Luna Park, still under construction at the grand opening,was declared at tis opening to rival the resorts at Venicearrl Santa Monica, California, as well as those of Coney Island.Blackpool, England, and the White City of Paris,Construe-tion of the park was engineered by T.H. Eslick, an internationally known architect and amusement p:trk builder.Among theamusement devices were an exact reproduction of the Palais.desJoies from the White City of Paris and the first of its kindin America, and an elaborate Fun House with 78 differentdevices,The crooked mirrors in the Fun House were made inGermany and used by Mack Sennett and MGM in productl.on,The San Diego Union in 1925 termed them one of the mostvaluable collections in existence,A 68-horse carousel or merry-go-round, with mirrorsand liJJOO electric lights - the ikargest ever brought toCalifornia - was especially constructed by the SpillmanCorpormcl!.ion of New York for the Mission Beach Amusement

-14-Center,In 1935, this merry-go-round was moved to BalboaPark for the Southern California Expostition, then toGriffith Park in Los Angeles, where it is still i.n operationtoday. 3 The Spillman merry-go-round was replaced in 1936by the Looff merry-go-round which is presently in use atBelmont Park.Built by Charles I,D, Looff of Long Beach,California about 1912, it arrived in San Diego with ErnestPickering, who took over operation of the amusement parkfor the City,When he died in 1938, his widow sold themerry-go-round to the City along with other equipment.In the 195o s, John Ray, operator of the amusement park atthat time, purchased the merry-go-round from the City.When his widow sold the corporation in 1969 to William D,Evans, title to the merry-go-round passed with it.Unlikethe Spillman merry-go-round, which consisted of all horses,the Looff merry-go-round has avarie yplus 2 pulling chariots of 3 seats,1.;of animals (48 horsesgirafJf'es, 4 rams andbilly goats and 4 camels - total 64 animals)Each of thehorses has saddle designs to identify to whom the horsebelongs, such as a rabbit hanging from the hunter''s saddle,a feather headdress and bow and arrows from the Indianchief's saddle, and so on.Such details were typical ofLooff animals,The roller coaster in use today is essentially the sameone built by Prior & Church in 1925,Sometimes called the"Scenic railway", the "Giant Dipper", or the "Race throughthe o1ouds", it is one of three remaining on the west coasttoday,The others are located in Portland, Oregon and inSanta Cruz, California.The structure is 75 feet in height,built of wood, and has 2800 feet of track,Until 1956, the

-15-roller coaster was owned and operated by the Mission BeachCoaster Company.In February, 1955, after 30 years ofservice, a fire damaged the roller coaster, causing it tobe shut down.In December, 1955, John Ray, then holdingthe lease for the amusement park, requested to be allowed totake over the lease for operation of the roller coasterconcession,Refused by the City Council,, he talked ofbuilding a new roller coaster.However, in January of1956, the city filed suit to have the old roller coastereither repaired or torn down.was sold to John Ray,Finally, the roller coasterAfter extensive repairs, it wasreopened on May 31, 1957, after more than two years ofbeing unused,The Mission Beach Coaster Company wasdissolved in 1957,In 1968, the roller coaster was againclosed for extensive work,Then, in 1969, the roller coasterwas sold to its present owner, William D. Evans, when hepurchased the remainder of the lease for the amusementpark from John Ray's widow,Unless otherwise noted, facts and statistical dataas to the original construction of the !Ussion Beach Amusement Center are from the San Diego Union, Special section,May 28, 1925,l.Pourade, Richard F, The rising tide (History of SanWiego, v.6) San Diego Union/Tribune Pub. Co,, c1967,pp, 75-6.2,San Diego Union3."The great carousels",7/17/59, .2l:Cl .J·une 1968, p. 76

-16-BIBLIOGRAPHYFried, Frederick. fl pictorial history of the carousel,New York, A.S, Barnes, 1964.Pourade, Richard F; The rising tide (History of SanDiego, v,6) San Diego, Union-Tribune PublishingCo,, cl967.Armstrong, T,G, "Mission Beach and Diamond Jubilee,"San Dieg Business, May 1925,"Belmont Park'; ; San Diego§;. fuin:t Magazine, v,ll, #10,August 1959,"The great carousels", Sunset, June 1968."Guise to Southland merry-go-rounds", L.A. Herald, California Li ing Journal, June 20, 1971."The merry-go-round of carousels", Southern CaliforniaHolid y, April/May 1971,."Mission Beach", Title topics, January/February 1955,v.9, #1.Rogers, Lincoln, AlA, "Mis!i!ion Beach bathhouse",Southwest magazine, November 1924,Ocean Beach NewsSan Diego SunSan Diego Union

-17-EXHIBITS1.Map of Mission Beach Amusement Center at time ofopening, May 28, 1925 (from San Diego Union, May 28,1925, Special section)2, Copy of Mission Beach Amusement Center layout, SanbornFire maps, 1925-1940, v.4, #615,3.Artist's sketch of Dance Casino (from San Diego Union,May 28, 1925, Special section, p,l9)l.f,Aerial photograph of Mission Beach Amusement Center,view from west, No date, about late 1925 or early 1926,5.Aerial photogril!ph of Mission Beach Amusement Center,overview from north, No date, earlier than #4.6,Photograph of boardwalk in front of Plunge, MissionBeach Amusement Center, facing north. 1925.7.Photograph on beach in front of Mission Beach AmusementCenter, showing Plunge and Dance Casino, and rollercoaster, 1925.8,Photograph of entrance detail, Mission Beach Plunge, 1925,9,Photograph of roller coaster and riders, circa 1960's,10.Aerial photograph of Mission Beach Amusement Centershowing Plunge and D nce Casino, circa 1939.11.Photograph of roller coaster and front parking area,Mission Beach Amusement Center, early 1950's,1.2,Article on Looff carousels from Fried,.Q.f carousels. 13,Article on carousels in the United States from Sunsetmagazine, une 1968,14,Photographs of I.oof carousel, Belmont Park (Miss ion BeachAmusement Center) taken 1974. (6 photographs)15,Correspondence re Belmont Park Carousel between RhodaKnnse, Librarian, California Room, San Diego PublicLibrary and William Herbert Long, American Merry-goround Institute, San Francisco, California, (8 items) pictorial history

-1MAP OF MISSION BEACH AMUSEMENT CENTER(San Diego Union: Thursday, May 28, 1925)Mission BayBonita Bay gDConcessionsI E0n;6./'II L P kaPark .----. rr--.,'"'!olm1,C baster no. Jno. 4JDI;:5112o}lerl'RailwayCamino Blvd.c::[ Luna ParkR nkConcessionDanceCasino Gusto'L-.IUo I :iJJ 'UEJ-0'tlro p.splPacific OceanFutureAuditoriumFuturesgl Hotel'"CJ[

Photograph 18Preliminary Case ReportPl unge Bu ilding 1985View to s o uthwest of north- centralportion of east el v tion.Photograph 19Prelimin ary Case Re portPlunge Bu ilding 1985View to southwest of north portionof east elevation .

Photograph l3Preliminary Case ReportPlunge Building 1985View to southwest , continuingeast al one north elevation.EMPLOYEES.OII.YPhotograph 14Pre liminary Case Repor tPlunge Building 1985View to southwes t, continuingeast a long north e l evat ion.

Photograph 64Preliminary Case ReportRoller Rink Building 1985Vi ew to southwest of southernportion of east elevation.Photograph 65Preliminary Case ReportRoller Rink Building 1985View to northwest a long westwall of building , toward pla ceof entry.

-',"".;., ,, ., .Photograph 5Preliminary Case ReportPlunge Building 1985View to northeast of juncturePhotograph 6Preliminary Case ReportPlunge Building 1985between east wing and main portionof building; south elevation.of west wing portion of southelevation of building.View to west of east elevation

Photograph 9Preliminary Case ReportPlunge Building 1985View to east of central portionof west elevation . Note centralarch remnant .---Pho t ograph 10Prelim inary Case ReportPlun ge Building 1985View to northeast of south- centralportion of west elevation .

The roller coaster was built for the park by Prior & Church. 1 It is of wood, 75 feet high, with 2800 feet of track, It is one of three remaining on the West Coast. Owned for many years by the Mission Beach Coaster Company, . to Belmont Park, after an amusement park entrepreneur Ray had known in Canada, In 1956, a new lease was negotiated .