ARTICLE
In late May during 1980s, my family started a summer time tradition. I would take my daughter and her girlfriends to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It would be a causal walk or bike ride from our Westside home down West Cliff Drive and to the “Boardwalk" for an afternoon of rides, enjoying the food and of course time at the beach. That meant the beginning of summer for us. The tradition faded into memories when we moved (over the hill) to Silicon Valley — where she attended high school. As our children grow older, those family traditions become fewer with time passing and as a young teenager’s interests change. Today, the Boardwalk still retains that simple elegance of a historical beach town’s summer entertainment center run by the same family since the 1950s. Tourists first started coming to Santa Cruz in 1865, when John Leibrandt built a public bathhouse near the mouth of the San Lorenzo River. Other bathhouses soon followed, catering to those seeking the "natural medicine" of a dip in salt water and needing a place to change. (Women in those days swam covered ankles to neck in wool suits that weighed twenty pounds when wet.) By the end of the nineteenth century, plans were being laid for a casino and boardwalk based on the Coney Island and Atlantic City models. Fred Swanton's Neptune Casino opened in 1904. Twenty-two months later, on June 22, 1906, it was destroyed by fire; but by October of the same year Swanton was laying the foundation for another. The new Cocoanut Grove ballroom, along with an indoor swimming pool, a pleasure pier, and a boardwalk, opened in June of 1907. The boardwalk's centerpiece attraction, the Giant Dipper roller coaster, opened in 1924 and continues to thrill riders today. During the 1930s, tourists from the San Francisco Bay Area, ninety, miles north of Santa Cruz, could take the Southern Pacific Railroad's "Suntan Special" right to the front gate of the boardwalk. They came to hear the greatest names of the Big Band era play at the Cocoanut Grove - Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and the Dorsey brothers. Across the country, meanwhile, most other amusement parks were falling on hard times. As income shrank during the Depression, and as the automobile opened up new recreational possibilities, traditional parks lost some of their appeal. By 1936, the 1,500 parks that had existed in 1919 had dwindled to about five hundred. The value of coastal land has upped the potential to change the landscape at the Boardwalk. These same factors also applied to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, however. Throughout much of the 1960s, the political vision for Santa Cruz was based on the desire for major growth. The 1964 General Plan anticipated major freeways running through the city and connecting to the beachfront areas, a major new University of California campus, a population of 100,000 by 1985 (it is now about 63,789 estimated by the California Dept. of Finance 2015), and major hotel development along the ocean front from the Municipal Wharf very near the amusement park to Lighthouse Field about a mile away. A major development for Lighthouse Field (to consist of a seven-story Hilton Hotel, convention center, shopping center, and housing project was actively pursued into the earlv 1970s). The political leadership at that time was closely allied with the business leadership and welcomed not only the independent growth of Santa Cruz but its close integration, through a freeway over the mountains, with the Santa Clara Valley. There are two aspects of land value that are relevant here - the market demand for the land in an alternate use and the political possibility of converting it to that use. Looking first at the potential of the boardwalk propertv in residential and/or hotel uses, it seems likely that, given the growth pressures in Santa Cruz, the demand for such uses in that location would be strong, if the land were available. Charles Canfield, the Chairman of the Seaside Company, cites the shape and size of the boardwalk's land - a narrow strip between the railroad and the sea, in places only seventy feet wide - as a factor in reducing the demand for the property. Other observers, however, dismiss the importance of the odd shape, agreeing that any bit of coastal real estate has to be considered desirable. Although the level of demand is probably less than it would be in San Francisco and Long Beach, it has still been significant. Canfield gives much of the credit for the boardwalk's survival to his father, Laurence, who became president of the company in 1952. According to Charles, his father had grown up in Santa Cruz and liked the challenge of keeping the park alive. Many other parks had been family owned he explained, but as they were passed from one generation to the next interest in the operations was spread out, and infighting among the family members resulted. Finally, with no one left with the will to maintain the parks in the face of adversity, the families sold out. Under Laurence's stewardship, the 1950s and 1960s were a time of reinvestment and expansion rather than consolidation and loss cutting. Management took some chances, but they were taken on the basis of careful long-range projections and studies. The rebuilding effort was aimed at increasing security, keeping the facilities clean, and catering to families and of course providing a low key fun and friendly environment. Now under the leadership of Charle's son, Tom Canfield, Tom’s daughter Corinn Canfield, and nephew, Karl Rice - the summer tradition continues. The Boardwalk has suffered through floods, earthquakes and a series of downturns in the economy over the last century, yet every May, warmer weather returns and the sounds of young children flock to the Boardwalk. Just as in past years, the summer kickoff party is in late May (May 25) just before the Memorial Holiday weekend. The kickoff will showcase the Boardwalk’s new main entrance and new ride. The family-owned Boardwalk has served our community for over a century and the Canfield’s carefully guide the Boardwalk into the next turn of technology advanced outdoor entertainment. As we grow up our summer time interests slowly change, but for a summer in Santa Cruz some things never change. The smell of the Monterey Bay as the warm summer breeze blows in, the sounds of the 1924 Giant Dipper, the 1911 Looff Carousel Circles, the laughter of young and old as they enjoy another year at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Thanks to a sixth generation of community and business leaders that keep us young at heart.
The tradition faded into memories when we moved (over the hill) to Silicon Valley — where she attended high school. As our children grow older, those family traditions become fewer with time passing and as a young teenager’s interests change.
Today, the Boardwalk still retains that simple elegance of a historical beach town’s summer entertainment center run by the same family since the 1950s.
Tourists first started coming to Santa Cruz in 1865, when John Leibrandt built a public bathhouse near the mouth of the San Lorenzo River. Other bathhouses soon followed, catering to those seeking the "natural medicine" of a dip in salt water and needing a place to change. (Women in those days swam covered ankles to neck in wool suits that weighed twenty pounds when wet.) By the end of the nineteenth century, plans were being laid for a casino and boardwalk based on the Coney Island and Atlantic City models.
Fred Swanton's Neptune Casino opened in 1904. Twenty-two months later, on June 22, 1906, it was destroyed by fire; but by October of the same year Swanton was laying the foundation for another. The new Cocoanut Grove ballroom, along with an indoor swimming pool, a pleasure pier, and a boardwalk, opened in June of 1907. The boardwalk's centerpiece attraction, the Giant Dipper roller coaster, opened in 1924 and continues to thrill riders today.
During the 1930s, tourists from the San Francisco Bay Area, ninety, miles north of Santa Cruz, could take the Southern Pacific Railroad's "Suntan Special" right to the front gate of the boardwalk. They came to hear the greatest names of the Big Band era play at the Cocoanut Grove - Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and the Dorsey brothers. Across the country, meanwhile, most other amusement parks were falling on hard times. As income shrank during the Depression, and as the automobile opened up new recreational possibilities, traditional parks lost some of their appeal. By 1936, the 1,500 parks that had existed in 1919 had dwindled to about five hundred.
The value of coastal land has upped the potential to change the landscape at the Boardwalk. These same factors also applied to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, however. Throughout much of the 1960s, the political vision for Santa Cruz was based on the desire for major growth. The 1964 General Plan anticipated major freeways running through the city and connecting to the beachfront areas, a major new University of California campus, a population of 100,000 by 1985 (it is now about 63,789 estimated by the California Dept. of Finance 2015), and major hotel development along the ocean front from the Municipal Wharf very near the amusement park to Lighthouse Field about a mile away. A major development for Lighthouse Field (to consist of a seven-story Hilton Hotel, convention center, shopping center, and housing project was actively pursued into the earlv 1970s). The political leadership at that time was closely allied with the business leadership and welcomed not only the independent growth of Santa Cruz but its close integration, through a freeway over the mountains, with the Santa Clara Valley.
There are two aspects of land value that are relevant here - the market demand for the land in an alternate use and the political possibility of converting it to that use. Looking first at the potential of the boardwalk propertv in residential and/or hotel uses, it seems likely that, given the growth pressures in Santa Cruz, the demand for such uses in that location would be strong, if the land were available.
Charles Canfield, the Chairman of the Seaside Company, cites the shape and size of the boardwalk's land - a narrow strip between the railroad and the sea, in places only seventy feet wide - as a factor in reducing the demand for the property. Other observers, however, dismiss the importance of the odd shape, agreeing that any bit of coastal real estate has to be considered desirable. Although the level of demand is probably less than it would be in San Francisco and Long Beach, it has still been significant.
Canfield gives much of the credit for the boardwalk's survival to his father, Laurence, who became president of the company in 1952. According to Charles, his father had grown up in Santa Cruz and liked the challenge of keeping the park alive. Many other parks had been family owned he explained, but as they were passed from one generation to the next interest in the operations was spread out, and infighting among the family members resulted. Finally, with no one left with the will to maintain the parks in the face of adversity, the families sold out.
Under Laurence's stewardship, the 1950s and 1960s were a time of reinvestment and expansion rather than consolidation and loss cutting. Management took some chances, but they were taken on the basis of careful long-range projections and studies. The rebuilding effort was aimed at increasing security, keeping the facilities clean, and catering to families and of course providing a low key fun and friendly environment.
Now under the leadership of Charle's son, Tom Canfield, Tom’s daughter Corinn Canfield, and nephew, Karl Rice - the summer tradition continues. The Boardwalk has suffered through floods, earthquakes and a series of downturns in the economy over the last century, yet every May, warmer weather returns and the sounds of young children flock to the Boardwalk.
Just as in past years, the summer kickoff party is in late May (May 25) just before the Memorial Holiday weekend. The kickoff will showcase the Boardwalk’s new main entrance and new ride. The family-owned Boardwalk has served our community for over a century and the Canfield’s carefully guide the Boardwalk into the next turn of technology advanced outdoor entertainment.
As we grow up our summer time interests slowly change, but for a summer in Santa Cruz some things never change. The smell of the Monterey Bay as the warm summer breeze blows in, the sounds of the 1924 Giant Dipper, the 1911 Looff Carousel Circles, the laughter of young and old as they enjoy another year at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Thanks to a sixth generation of community and business leaders that keep us young at heart.