Vietnam and Watergate were the big stories of the day when a gaggle of latchkey kids in south Santa Monica -- including future legends Jay Adams, Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta -- reinterpreted vertical surfing moves for dry land and radically redefined skateboarding.
Now the building that housed the 1970s-era surf and skate shop where the renegade teens bonded to become the Zephyr, or Z-boys, skateboarding team is in danger of being developed out of existence.
The prospect has ignited a debate over the Santa Monica property -- now the site of Horizons West Surf Shop -- and the historical significance of the extreme skateboarding movement. The Z-boys (and one girl) are credited with being among the first to bring surfing moves to skateboarding -- and to glamorize the guerrilla art of riding empty swimming pools that proliferated during the 1970s drought in Southern California.
Their flashy tricks -- launched before the ollie, now routine, was even invented -- inspired the 2001 "Dogtown and Z-Boys" documentary, which Peralta directed, and the 2005 theatrical film "The Lords of Dogtown," which he wrote.
Many surfers and skateboarders contend that the building should be preserved as a historic landmark -- not because of its architecture, which just about everyone agrees has no merit, but because of what emanated from there three decades ago.
The owner, Lewis Herrmann, wants to erect a 14-unit mixed-use "green" project at the site, 2001-2011 Main St. between Bay and Bicknell streets. It would be built of sustainable nontoxic materials and use renewable energy. The shops and rental units would further gentrify an area that has evolved from seedy to chic in recent years.
Upscale boutiques and cafes now dot the stretch of Main Street that in the Z-boys era featured a mission and thrift shops. At 2000 Main, site of the former Pioneer Boulangerie, workers are completing a project that features housing units, ground-floor retail shops and subterranean parking.
After seeing a copy of "Dogtown and Z-Boys," developer Juli Doar, Herrmann's granddaughter, voluntarily withdrew her application for a demolition permit and organized two public meetings at which community members aired gripes and brainstormed ways to commemorate the Zephyr team's contribution to skating. Doar hopes to propose a plan that would integrate art that celebrates the team and its culture into the building's design. She emphasized that zoning rules allow her to develop twice as many units and almost double the floor area of the project. But, she said, "instead of more square footage, we chose to plant green space."
