Kiddie Rides Coming Back to Fisherman's Village

The kiddie rides are coming back to Fisherman's Village in Marina del Rey and so are some fresh coats of paint.

The waterfront mall that is one of the marina's most easily recognized landmarks will be spruced up in the next few weeks as it tries to lure in customers in the short-term, while looking at a major redevelopment that is still a few years away, said Michael Pashaie, a principal partner of Pacific Ocean Management, which operates five properties in the marina including Fisherman's Village.

Pashaie talked about the improvements Wednesday at a meeting of the Design Control Board, a Department of Beaches and Harbors advisory group that makes recommendations to the county's Department of Regional Planning.

The state of Fisherman's Village was raised during when Jules Doyle, owner of Cafe al Fresco in Fisherman's Village, asked board members why so few businesses were open at the waterside tourist destination spot and pleaded for the return of the children's rides. Doyle later called the tourist attraction "a waste of space."

Pashaie said the children's rides were removed due to safety concerns after there were reports that some children had suffered injuries after falling from the rides. The rides, similar to those seen outside a supermarket, were replaced by a bicycle rack.

Pashaie said development of Fisherman's Village had been stalled primarily due to the need of 1,000 parking spaces on the narrow strip of property. Development is going forward with plans for a costly underground parking garage.

"As far as the kiddie rides, those kiddie rides were kind of delapidated. We are getting new ones that are much better in the next 60 days," Pashaie said. "As far as the delapidation, these next two weeks we'll have a full crew of painters and people who will fix it up and paint it and touch it up."

Fisherman's Village has filled most of its vacancies and leases are being written for some new businesses, including artists, Pashaie said.

Doyle spoke again Wednesday and said his comments were not intended to be negative, but were intended to improve Fisherman's Village. He said that traffic slowed at his cafe and dozens of parents asked him about the rides after they were removed.

Pacific Ocean Management has been working for the past 10 years on redevelopment of Fisherman's Village and the current plans call for a new 132-room hotel with a dozen bungalows on its upper level. Plans also call for a new 65,700 square foot restaurant and retail space with outdoor patio dining. Construction likely won't begin for at least two years.

Pashaie said that Fisherman's Village needs to be completely revamped to compete with the The Grove and 3rd Street Promenade and needs to be larger.

"It's a painful process, you want to fill it temporarily but you also can't do it because everyone that's good wants to do it on a permanent basis," he said. "So we are going to, for the next two years try, to make it as vibrant as possible within reason."

In other action, the board voted 4-0 to approve the final design for a 1,400-foot walkway behind the Marina City Club residential complex. The new Marina Walk will be 12-feet wide, as opposed to the current 8-feet wide walkway, and will be open to the public from Organic Pacificio restaurant to the Marina del Rey Ritz-Carlton Hotel.