A summer tradition for many South Bay families finally returned — splashing at the Seaside Lagoon.
The Redondo Beach lagoon reopened on Friday, June 18, for the first time in more than a year, after the coronavirus pandemic forced it to shutter all last summer.
Multiple families, with rambunctious children in tow, waited in line ahead of the lagoon’s reopening Friday morning. Parents held beach blankets and stood in front of the gates, while their kids burned off energy by running around.
Then, the gates opened.
Goggle-wearing kids zoomed down slides and into the salty water, holding their noses. Others simply splashed around, grins plastered on their faces. Another pair of youngers built sandcastles away from the water.
For some families, visiting the Seaside Lagoon, which opened in 1961, is a traditional part of summer fun in the sun.
Inglewood resident Shenise Wigfall and her 4-year old son, Camden, were first in line Friday.
Wigfall’s oldest son, Carter, also loves going to the Seaside Lagoon. He turns 7 years old on Saturday, so Wigfall wanted to make sure she had a reserved table for his birthday party.
“We love this place for our kids,” Wigfall said. “It’s a place where we feel safe to have them in the pool and they still get the action of the ocean, but it’s enclosed.”
Redondo Beach’s Sara Santogrossi brought her children, 3-year-old Leo and 6-year-old Mia. She wasn’t going to miss her chance to give her kids some fun, she said.
“We were really sad that it was not open all of last year because they are finally at a good age to be enjoying it,” Santogrossi said. “So when we saw it was opening up today we wanted to get in line,” .
The lagoon opened three days after the date initially set for its 2021 debut, however, and will only be open from Friday to Monday, at least to start, because of a shortage of lifeguards. And it will close on Aug. 22, rather than after Labor Day — is is traditional — to allow organizers of the BeachLife Festival to get ready.
“It’s been a real challenge for us to get enough folks on board hired and then trained,” said Cameron Harding, community services director for the city.
Redondo, though, is not the only city with a lifeguard shortage. It’s actually a national problem, Harding said.
To start, the city will set the lagoon’s capacity at 800 people, Harding said previously, though that could increase based on changing public health guidelines. The state, and Los Angeles County, are set to remove most coronavirus restrictions, including capacity limits, on Tuesday.
Pre-pandemic capacity was 2,000.
And the Seaside Lagoon, which was drained and refilled with salt water last week, typically brings in $545,000 a year. With the shortened season, though, city officials estimated, in mid-April, that revenue will be about half that, from $200,000 to $250,000.
But that was before the city reduced operations from daily to four days a week. Harding, though, said the city expects to resume the traditional seven-day schedule soon.
Redondo Beach operates Seaside Lagoon at a shortfall during summers it is at full capacity and schedule. After paying expenses, the city loses an average of $200,000 per year, according to Mike Witzansky, assistant city manager. There’s an additional $285,000 Redondo Beach owes the Regional Water Quality Control Board for violations from 2016 to 2019, said Witzansky.
It’s unclear how much the reduced hours to begin the summer season could reduce the lagoon’s revenue.
Still, the opening of Seaside Lagoon, in some ways, represents the true beginning of summer in Redondo Beach — and a return to pre-pandemic life.
“I think people are really looking forward to it and excited about it,” Harding said, “not just because it marks the start of summer, but also because things are opening back up.”
If you go
What: Seaside Lagoon
When: 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Fridays to Mondays until Aug. 22
Where: 200 Portofino Way, Redondo Beach.
Cost: Adults older than 17, $8; children 2 to 17 years old, $6; under 2, free; season passes also available
Information: redondo.org.
Staff photographer Brittany Murray contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: Because of an editing error, the categorization of $545,000 was incorrect in an earlier version of this story. The story has been updated.
