Pacific Ocean Park - The End

The End

In 1965, Santa Monica began its Ocean Park urban renewal project. Buildings in the surrounding area were demolished and streets leading to the park were closed. As a result, visitors couldn't reach the park and attendance plummeted to 621,000 in 1965 and 398,700 in 1966.

At the end of the 1967 tourist season, the park's creditors and the City of Santa Monica filed suit to take control of the property because of back taxes and back rent owed by the park's new owner since 1965. Pacific Ocean Park closed on October 6, 1967. The park's assets were auctioned off June 28 through June 30, 1968. The proceeds from the sale of thirty-six rides and sixteen games were used to pay off creditors. The ruins of the pier became a favorite surfing area and hangout of the Z-Boys of Dogtown fame. The park's dilapidated buildings and pier structure remained until several suspicious fires occurred and it was finally demolished in the winter of 1974-75.

Other than a few underwater pilings and signs warning of them, nothing remains of Pacific Ocean Park today. A few miles north, the original Santa Monica Pier features a newer amusement park, similarly called Pacific Park. Today, the rides and attractions of the Santa Monica Pier include the Carousel that is featured in the 1973 Academy Award -winning film,The Sting.

The climactic scene in the final episode of the television series The Fugitive ("The Judgment, Part 2)" was shot at Pacific Ocean Park. Filmed on location just prior the park's closure in the fall of 1967, the park's "Mahi, Mahi" ride tower was the setting for the dramatic face off between Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen) and the fictional one-armed man. The episode of the Twilight Zone series titled "In Praise of Pip," starring Jack Klugman and Billy Mumy, was also filmed there. An episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was filmed in the park.

The park was the setting of an episode of the television series Route 66 (Season 2, Episode 29 "Between Hello and Goodbye") which aired May 11, 1962. Martin Milner's character Tod is shown working at King Neptune's Courtyard, and guest star Susan Oliver is depicted riding the Ocean Skyway.