At first glance, it may not look like much—a dilapidated shed behind Vons and Rick’s Rain Gutters. But Historical Society President Gary McAulay said that the shed is one of the first real estate offices in Manhattan Beach. It was built during a time when, as a sign on the shed promotes, a beach lot cost $500: $50 down, $10 a month.
McAulay said that the society in currently in the process of relocating the shed. He said he would like to restore the shed, estimated to be about 80 years old, and move it to Polliwog Park next to the historical cottage that dates back to 1905 and currently serves as a museum.
The Historical Society is working on contacting a mover to relocate the building to a city yard while they come up with fundraising ideas for the project and do site prep and Polliwog Park.
This project will save the wooden building from being torn down after the city Parking Commission approved a development project to turn the area where the shed sits into a 23-spot lot for Vons employees.
“Absolutely nothing against Vons because they need the parking, but real estate’s become valuable in this community,” McAulay said about the shed’s significance to Manhattan Beach history. “Oftentimes old stuff—it gets in the way and it doesn’t stand against the face of progress.”
He said that because real estate continues to be a significant industry in Manhattan Beach, the shed is much more valuable to the city’s history than one might first imagine.
But because the shed was unknowingly hidden for years under a tarp behind Rick’s Rain Gutters and Advanced Painting, McAulay said that historical society has been in a rush to make plans for the relocation and restoration project.
“It’s actually a very small structure but it’s really a key part of the town’s development so we’re very happy to have found it and so far everybody has been very helpful in trying to help us save the building, but we didn’t know about it until a fairly short time ago,” McAulay said. “Time gets away from you very fast and it takes an awful lot to research the building and to get everybody’s permission to arrange the steps and so we’ve felt that time crunch.”
He said that a local Eagle Scout troupe will help to restore the building, and that future fundraising projects will make the restoration a “community effort.”
City Manager David Carmany said at a council meeting last week that there has been some debate in the city about whether or not the shed is worth the effort to save. However, he said that McAulay’s determination is likely to help move the project forward.
“If anyone can pull this off, it’s Gary,” Carmany said.
“In the end, the [historical society] just can’t bear to lose the historic real estate shed,” McAulay said. “We feel that this is too important a piece of the town’s history to let it go.” ER
Letters to the Editor 5-1-25
April 29, 2025
