Marineland of the Pacific was a Sea World type oceanarium on the Palos Verdes peninsula for over thirty years. I went there once as a kid before it closed, and I had the best time. The modern architecture was so beautiful. It is so unfortunate that the owners of Sea World bought it, promised to keep it open, then closed it soon after. For twenty years the place has been abandoned, but work seems to be going on now, and plans to redevelop the property as the Terranea resort have been underway recently. This sign has even been changed. The blue and white wavy lines have been replaced with a resort themed mural. The remaining modern architecture is being replaced with the ugly pseudo-Mediterranean style which plagues the south bay.
This is how the sign used to look. I found this picture on the internet somewhere. The big whale really scared me when I was younger, but now I wish it was still there. The dolphins were relocated somewhere and I heard the whale is in storage waiting for a home.
Here is a picture of the restaurant and Dolphin room buildings. I guess they are closer to the cliffs than modern building codes allow, so the developers cannot build any new structure so close. There have been plans to keep the buildings (drastically remodeled) and have them grandfatered in so the beautiful view can be preserved. But I don't really know anything about it.Visit the Marineland of the Pacific Historical Society here.
Or see plans for the new Terranea resort here.
Tags: Marineland Palos Verdes Architecture Signage
2 comments:
They filmed the movie Life as a house at the marineland site...I have that movie.
I was raised in California and visited Marineland many times as a child. I remember once after they abruptly closed it, I was visiting Sea World in San Diego and asked what had happened to Bubbles, a whale formally at Marineland. The tour guide turned several shades of red and refused to discuss it. Always made me wonder if something shady had happened.
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