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Boulevard Improvement Association in March 1924. These men recruited other like-minded
individuals to help purchase land along East Boulevard and hold it until the city could initiate a
bond election to buy it.
In January 1925, just ahead of the bond election, Winsor Soule, local architect and president of the
City Parks Commission, announced a comprehensive program of ocean-front development designed by
local landscape architect and parks commission member, Ralph T. Stevens. East of the pier and south
of the boulevard, Santa Barbara Street would be extended to reach an aquarium, a parking lot, and a
park. In the triangle of land west of Milpas, where the baseball fields now lie, plans called for a children’s
wading pool, zoo, and playground.
East of Milpas, the residential subdivision called Cabrillo Park would be surrounded by parkland
Child’s estate. The salt marsh was to become a mountain lake with
islands, pergola, and boathouse. A bridle path would surround it,
and, at its outlet to the ocean below the Clark Estate, a bathhouse
with parking lot was to be constructed.
To sweeten the pot, Roland Sauter published the design for a
beach pavilion, which he hinted would be a gift to the city from a
wealthy benefactor if the Bond Election passed. The 1920s being mid-
roar, the $450,000 bond issue carried by a large margin. Some of the
bond money was intended to purchase the land acquired by the East
Beach Improvement Association, some was designated to buy lots
not yet acquired, and some to pay for redesigning East Boulevard and
moving it farther from the ocean.
In February 1925, the city began extending the old sewer line
to 3,600 feet. In March, David Gray announced his gift of a beach
pavilion and bathhouse to the people of Santa Barbara. Before work
could commence, however, tragedy struck. On June 29, 1925, a 6.8
earthquake roared through the town, leaving devastation in its wake
and derailing waterfront plans for a time.
MOGULS
&
MANSIONS
that included a botanic
garden complete with
glass houses. An offshoot
of East Boulevard was
to swing north and
cross Sycamore Creek
to border the parklands
created from land
acquired from Lillian
(top right) David Gray on East Cabrillo Boulevard in front of the new
Pavilion and Bathhouse in May 1927; (middle) By 1942, the Hotel Mar
Monte rose behind the Pavilion but swimmers still enjoyed the raft; (bottom)
Speedos and bathing caps made an appearance in 1942 (Courtesy SBHM)