The bathhouse is truely a treasure in San Pedro. It was originally built in 1932 and utilized by those travelling to the coast by Red Car train from far away places. It allowed beach goers to rent a bathing suit and towel, offered a place to get out of the sun and shower and change for the ride home.
I remember the run down bath house when I was a kid. It housed a makeshift marine museum with a shark hanging from the ceiling, huge turtle shells, dusty bottles of sea life specimines in formaldihyde lined the shelves. There was no admission fee to get in and no real supervision. It was always fun and always interesting, even if we were just playing hide and seek among the displays.
The museum was moved to the great new building down the way designed by Frank Gherry and the bathhouse was restored to it's original grandeur. It is one of the few remaining bathhouses in Southern California and the even fewer working bathhouses open to the public. It has hot showers available for beach goers, a class room, ballroom, gallery and outdoor patio arcade area.
The bathhouse is run by Los Angeles rec and parks and an amazing location for parties, weddings, seminars and classes. It is inexpensive, there is plenty of parking and they will provide chairs and tables as needed.
Comments(0)