Connecting to Ventura County's Past: Redevelopment of Beach Area

Ventura coastline and wharf in 1935, 30 years before the Beachfront Redevelopment Project

One project file cataloged by Library staff tells the story of Ventura’s Beachfront Redevelopment Project. Today, the area from California to Figueroa Streets is home to the Crowne Plaza Ventura Hotel and apartment complexes, with a pedestrian promenade and seawall along the coastline.

Ventura County Star-Free Press Newspaper Article on the Beachfront Redevelopment Project

The file outlines how this beachfront area transformed from streets and residential buildings directly on the beach to the structures, promenade, and seawall. It documents how Eminent Domain forced property owners to sell their land for the redevelopment to progress.  The City/the state? gave residents the option to relocate to public or private housing or buy back their property only if they developed it according to the redevelopment agency’s guidelines.

Many of the streets detailed in these maps no longer exist or have been renamed. The Martin & Associates Collection and digitized photographs held by the Museum, provide an invaluable record of the area and its residents before the Beachfront Redevelopment Project.