Surfin' Turf
If you've ever gotten on a skateboard, surfboard or snowboard, this corner should mean something to you.
It's the home of Horizons West Surfboards, formerly The Zephyr Surf Shop of Dogtown fame in Santa Monica.
Vertical skateboarding , the kind we routinely watch on the X games - with its half-pipes and eye-popping hairpin maneuvers - didn't exist thirty-odd years ago. A maverick group of surfers who ran and hung out at this surf shop in the 70s invented it.
But they did more than that.
With their in-your-face attitude, ferocious intensity and cocky irreverance, these young outsiders irrevocably reshaped boarding into their own image. And with it, our culture: Who we are today is a reflection of who those kids were back then on Main and Bay.
In a way, you could say they paved the way for us bloggers. They shattered the status quo, rewrote the rules, took on the big guys and won.
They were to organized sports what Deadspin is to ESPN.
But now the shop has been placed under review for demolition by the City. As is happening all over L.A.'s West Side, it's slated to be torn down to make way for some Juicy Couture or Ralph Lauren boutique.
Instead of aging gracefully, L.A. once again prepares to stretch its sagging urban jowls, pave over the cracks and character lines, and eliminate not just a building but a piece of its history.
To many of us who live here, that's just plain wrong.
Why am I telling you this?
Cuz this shop can be saved if Santa Monica will give it landmark status.
And they're more likely to do that if enough people from around the country let the city know it matters to them.
Jeff Ho, founder of Zephyr back in 1971, has put a call out for help, appearing on some local sports programs here.
If the old surf shop can be saved, there's talk of turning it into a museum honoring the contribution this Dogtown storefront made to modern sports. That would be pretty cool.
We have enough shopping malls. There's only one Zephyr.
If you agree, please take five minutes to help preserve this important piece of surfing and skateboarding history by emailing Jing Yeo, the Liason to the Santa Monica Landmark Commision. Anything you send will be part of the public record and can't be ignored.
His address is: jing.yeo@smgov.net.
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1 comments:
Yes, this building is slated to be torn down - but I believe the new structure will be an apartment building or perhaps and apartment building with retail on the first floor. City of Santa Monica is big on those mixed use bldgs these days as there is a massive one almost finished just across Main Street. Ralph Lauren seems unlikey, but Jamba Juice is a possibility.
I guess I would feel worse about the prospect of Horizons West going away if the shop wasn't such a surly presence on the surf scene. Every time I ever went in there to get wax or a pair of flip flops - I felt like I was crossing the quad and the stoner Seniors were about to kick my ass (or at least threaten to). Watch the Dogtown documentary to see the "locals only" vibe in action. Recently, one of their employees was a guy everyone called "Stinkeye" because he would glare at any other surfers he thought might be getting near one of 'his' waves. It makes sense for knucklehead teenagers to act that way but, "Locals Only" is probably not the best way to run a business.
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