Paddleboarding memorial proposed for Manhattan Beach pier lot
Three life-size bronze figures celebrating the Catalina Classic Paddleboard Race are proposed for the Manhattan Beach pier area. Rendering by Ivan Djikanovici / Michael Lee Architects
A bronze sculpture of a life-size, male paddler standing in front of an upright, 18-foot-tall paddleboard, flanked by male and female knee paddlers is being proposed for the Manhattan Beach parking lot, south of the pier. The area is presently barren, except for an industrial size trash bin.
The three bronze paddlers will celebrate the Catalina Classic Paddleboard Race, which was founded in Manhattan Beach in 1955 and is held annually on the last Sunday in August. The 32-mile race begins at Two Harbors on Catalina Island and ends at the Manhattan Pier.
The proposed paddleboard er statues, as viewed from the Manhattan Beach Strand. Rendering by Ivan Djikanovici / Michael Lee Architects
Catalina Classic paddlers Tom Horton, Brian Kingston, Ed McKeegan and Michael Lee will be asking the City Council for conceptual approval of the statues at next Tuesday’s council meeting.
Horton, the president of the South Bay Boardriders Club, said when the Boardriders Club formed in 2009 its focus was on surfing, but members wanted to incorporate paddleboarding into the club’s activities.
“I talked to Tim Ritter, who ran the Hennessey Paddleboard Series, and he said he’d like to see a statue commemorating paddleboarding at the pier. Finally, about two years ago, a group of us started talking about how to make it happen.”
The sculpture’s first design by Kingston, who is an artist, was modeled after the iconic statue of Duke Kahanamoku standing in front of his surfboard at Waikiki Beach, in Hawaii.
Councilman Steve Napolitano, when shown the early rendering, told the paddlers, “You better include a woman.” Napolitano said this week his advice traced back to the ruckus over the Manhattan Pier Volleyball Walk of Fame, which initially was only going to honor male winners of the Manhattan Beach Volleyball Open.
“Then-Councilwoman Linda Wilson told the Volleyball Walk of Fame committee if they wanted her vote they better have the female Open winners on the pier,” Napolitano recalled.
The paddleboard committee also got an earful from two-time Catalina Classic winner D.J O’Brien when she saw women were left out of the proposed paddleboard monument.
The problem of representing the two sexes was resolved when Manhattan Beach Cultural Arts Administrator Martin Betz noted that monuments with three elements were aesthetically more pleasing than those with just one element.
O’Brien and paddler Jay Russell were then asked to pose for photos from which the current representation is based.
The knee paddlers are paddling north, following the course of the Catalina Classic. A wave in the shape of Catalina Island is at the rear of the paddlers.
Horton emphasized that the current model is subject to revisions.
If the council gives conceptual approval for the statues, the paddleboard statue committee will move forward with fundraising. They anticipate the statues costing several hundred thousand dollars, and plan to raise it from fellow paddlers. They are not asking the council for public funds for the statue.