La Jolla Shores Lifeguard Tower Important for Public Safety

by Councilman Scott Peters
for the La Jolla Village News
December 2003

I think everyone in La Jolla can agree that the men and women who serve as lifeguards along our beaches are critical to keeping our families safe when we go to the beach. Lifeguards perform a very important public safety role in our community and it is important that we support them with good working conditions. That is why the City is preparing to rehabilitate or replace our three lifeguard towers at La Jolla Shores, the Cove and the Children's Pool.

The current facilities don't cut it. The role and responsibilities of lifeguards has changed dramatically in the decades since lifeguard towers in La Jolla were built. Lifeguards now include women, they use more advanced equipment, and they require advanced training. These changes have led to the need for larger spaces for storage, locker rooms for both sexes, and better facilities for training and office space.

Renovating our lifeguard towers requires a balance between the real needs of our lifeguard service and the concerns of some residents about bulk and scale of the buildings. We have taken seriously the input of residents in the Shores by making them an integral part of the design process. This collaborative effort led the La Jolla Shores Association to approve the La Jolla Shores lifeguard tower and rescue vehicle storage facility on a 12 to 1 vote last April. This is the first of the three that will be rebuilt. Despite the overwhelming community support, there are still a few who are unsatisfied and who are spreading misinformation about the lifeguard tower and I feel that it is important you know the facts.

The new 1,485 square foot lifeguard tower will be a beautiful facility, incorporating public art and reflecting the unique character of La Jolla. The new facility will house modern safety equipment and accommodate locker room facilities for both sexes. The building is being designed by award winning, Roesling Nakamura Architects, who worked closely with the community at over 15 public meetings to reduce bulk and scale of the new structure to minimize view impacts to the ocean. The new facility is only one story with a cantilevered lifeguard observation tower. The main building is split into two structures with an 8-foot breezeway between the structures to open view corridors.

To keep the building next to the beach as small as possible, we will locate a 650-square foot structure in the parking lot to store rescue vehicles. It will replace the ugly metal storage container currently in the parking lot, which has caused several injuries to lifeguards and is located 300 feet from the beach access driveway. The new facility will be screened by landscape and be located 82 feet from the beach driveway to improve rescue response times and minimize interaction between vehicles and pedestrians. We will also add a new pedestrian crosswalk and stop signs to the area around the building to enhance pedestrian safety.

The rescue vehicle structure will not affect parking supply. The new storage building will remove eight parking spaces. However, those eight spaces will be replaced by giving back some existing lifeguard-only spaces and by restriping some of the larger spaces in the current lot.

Our lifeguards deserve our thanks and support for the important job they do for our families and our visitors. We should honor their service by providing them with facilities that enhance and complement the important work they do for us. I am proud of the new facility that will be built at the Shores and community input process that created it. If you would like to see renderings of the facility please go to the La Jolla section of my web site at www.sandiego.gov/cd1.