Support the Redondo Waterfront Revitalization with a Wave Pool
The city of Redondo Beach is considering plans to revitalize the Seaside Lagoon and one option includes a new lagoon and a compact-but-fun wave pool that would bring more visitors and revenue to local businesses and the city. The alternative is a $10M bandaid that won’t change the customer experience and leave 3 incredible acres of property fenced-in and useless 9 months out of the year.
A city council meeting at 6:30 on September 15th at Redondo City Hall will decide the fate of the Seaside Lagoon and impact multiple future generations. Attend the meeting and support the revitalization plan that includes a new lagoon and a public wave pool.
Seaside Lagoon has been a Redondo Beach fixture for decades. Its a saltwater swimming pool with a sandy beach. It’s a fun, family-friendly facility that costs only $10 per person
However, keeping the aging facility running has become increasingly expensive.
The lagoon relies on an unusual system that brings seawater into the facility, chlorinates it for swimming, and then removes the chlorine before the water is discharged back into King Harbor. As the infrastructure has aged and water-quality requirements have become more stringent, that system has become harder and more costly to operate.
Those problems have already had real consequences. The City recently reported about $175,000 in water-quality penalties over a two-year period. In 2025, a pump failure also forced the lagoon to close for roughly two weeks during the summer season and cost about $60,000 to repair.
The City has secured $10 million in state funding and committed another $1 million of its own money toward rebuilding and modernizing the lagoon.
The original plan for improving the Seaside Lagoon, seen in the rendering below, replaces the aging water system and securely isolates the lagoon from the ocean water. It includes some amenity updates as well, but the customers’ experience will be very similar to their experience today, and the pool will remain closed 9 months out of the year.
When Allen Sanford, co-founder of the California Surf Club adjacent to the Seaside Lagoon, heard about the plans, he recognized the opportunity lost and assembled a plan of his own.
Allan’s plan for the park improvements, tenatively named “Ocean Park“, includes a revitalized swimming lagoon, park and picnic facilities, and a compact-but-fun wave pool for surfing. The image below is a very early draft meant to capture the idea and some overall goals, but is surely to change as the team works through design and wave-tech decisions.
The waves generated by the wave pool will depend on detailed design and wave-technology selection, Allen and his team want to create right and left waist to head-high waves that provide ~12 second rides. Depending on the session, the waves will be tailored for beginners, intermediate or advanced surfers.
While both plans include a family swimming lagoon, the advantages of the Ocean Park plan are obvious and significant.
- Ocean Park is open to the public year-round, while the original city plan leaves 3+ acres of prime real estate fenced off 9 months out of the year.
- Ocean Park will attract exponentially more visitors from outside Redondo Beach, all of whom will contribute to nearby hotel, restaurant and local business revenue.
- Ocean Park will directly and indirectly (through local business revenue) contribute an estimated $1M to Redondo Beach tax revenue.
- Ocean Park will provide at least 100,000 waves, per year, to non-profit organizations like the Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation.
- Ocean Park will provide a safe place for anyone to learn to surf in the safest environment possible.
- Ocean Park will put smiles on thousands of people riding great waves 365 days per year.
Opponents will quickly point out that the family lagoon in the Ocean Park plan is much smaller than the current city proposal, but it 3x larger than necessary to handle the maximum historic attendance at the existing Seaside Lagoon. The family lagoon in the Ocean Park plan can comfortably hold 375 people, with comfortable spacing between everyone. That 300 people more than the maximum number ever documented in the existing Seaside Lagoon.
Opponents will also raise questions about funding. The design, construction and operation of the park would occur without any contributions from the city or its taxpayers. If the city chooses to contribute the grant money to the creation of Ocean Park, then they could share in the revenue,. And if they choose to reallocate that money elsewhere, or give it back to the state, the city still earns revenue from the land lease to the Ocean Park operators and all the tax revenue described above.
Failure to adopt the more visionary Ocean Park plan, increase city tax revenue by ~$1M per year and give residents a new lagoon AND a surf park seems irrational at best. If you agree, join the city council meeting at 6:30 pm on September 15th at city hall and email your favorite leader at their address below.
- Jim Light — Mayor, Citywide — James.Light@redondo.org
- Brad Waller — District 1 — Brad.Waller@redondo.org
- Chadwick Castle — District 2 — Chadwick.Castle@redondo.org
- Paige Kaluderovic — District 3 — Paige.Kaluderovic@redondo.org
- Zein Obagi Jr. — District 4 — Zein.Obagi@redondo.org
- Scott Behrendt — District 5 — Scott.Behrendt@redondo.org
