Balboa Pavilion

The Balboa Pavilion is the oldest building in Newport Beach in the U.S. state of California. Built in 1906, wooden structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a California Historical Landmark No. 959 entered. The Balboa Pavilion is located directly on the banks of the Newport Bay on the Balboa Peninsula.

The historic building now houses a restaurant and a ballroom. It owes its name to the Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Through its distinctive turrets, the Balboa Pavilion stands out unmistakably from the cityscape. From the adjacent boat dock begin the harbor tours and the Catalina Flyer, a speedboat connection to Avalon on Santa Catalina Iceland.

History

The first years

The history of the Balboa Pavilion is closely linked with the development of the city of Newport Beach. In September 1905 approved the War Department in Washington DC the Newport Bay Investment Company to build the building. As the site was chosen, the Newport Bay, a bay on the Pacific Ocean side facing away from the Balboa Peninsula. The investor group had recognized the tourism potential of the then still largely unpopulated area that extended to the Newport Bay. The sea with its wide beaches offered ideal leisure and recreational opportunities.

Ins following year, 1906, was the founding of Newport Beach. The young city tried to attract to the region in the following years new residents and vacationers. The opening of the Balboa Pavilion in July of the same year accelerated this project considerably. The elaborate wooden building was held in the Victorian style and should serve primarily as Boots and bathhouse. For the design of architect Fred R. Dorn was responsible. At the same time was completed with the opposite Balboa Pier, the sister project.

The wedding of the big band era

The opening of a railway line to Los Angeles by the Pacific Electric Railway little later proved for the city of Newport Beach as a godsend. Numerous vacationers and bathers took advantage of the new means of transport and flocked to the surrounding beaches. The trains ended near the Balboa Pavilion.

By the 1930s, the era of big bands began. Famous musicians such as Count Basie, Benny Goodman and the brothers Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey appeared at the Balboa Pavilion. The so-called Balboa couple dance was founded in about the same time in the surrounding clubs and soon conquered many dance floors around the world. Named after his birthplace Swing enjoys today again growing in popularity.

Decline and revival

The period after the Second World War was marked by the decline. Since the wooden structure was built on sandy ground, they now threatened to slip into the bay. 1948 bought the Gronsky family Balboa Pavilion and replaced the rotten structure by concrete columns. In the following years the house experienced a constant coming and going. It housed, among others, a shell museum and a bingo lottery.

In 1963 the operation of the entire network of the Pacific Electric Railway in favor of private transport was set. Even the tracks in front of the Balboa Pavilion were dismantled. However, it was realized shortly afterwards the historical value of Pavilions: 1968 the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. At the same time it was registered as California Historical Landmark No. 959.

In the following decades, the Balboa Pavilion underwent further changes of ownership, eventually led to a lasting revival. The historic building now houses a restaurant, a ballroom and a boat dock. From there start the Catalina Flyer to Santa Catalina Iceland and harbor cruises. Also tours to the so-called whale watching are seasonal limited offer. Off the coast of Newport Beach can be observed in the winter months, gray whales, then pull from the northern waters southward.

The Balboa Pavilion is the oldest surviving building in Newport Beach today.

In art and media

Some scenes in the film The Thirteenth Year (1999) were filmed in Balboa Pavilion. The production of the Disney Channel playing on Balboa Iceland, an island in the Bay of Newport Beach.