News Oct. 28 "University by the Sea" Festival May Be Last Public Visibility For Entombed, Historic Jergins Pedestrian Tunnel
(Oct. 11, 2007) -- The upcoming "University by the Sea" festival on Sunday Oct. 28 (noon to 9 p.m.) -- a debut event celebrating art, film and culture with speakers/presentations at multiple downtown restaurants -- may be the final opportunity to see and re-enter the historic Pine @ Ocean Jergins Pedestrian Subway before it is entombed by another City Hall-invited high rise.
On Oct. 10, event organizers gave media a retro-preview prior to the subway's possible final public visibility on Oct. 28...when it will serve as the "University's" screening room for historic films involving LB in the 1920s-1960s.
The Subway film screenings (noon to 8 p.m.) will be presented by Ron Petke, Charter Communications production manager and former president of the LB Historical Society.
The event website says films to be shown in the Jergins Subway will include black and white home movies from the early 20th century, followed by some Technicolor footage from the late ‘30s and various mid-century shots of a beloved, nearly forgotten Long Beach. The historic commercials and films will feature the Pike, downtown, Belmont Shore, ‘Horny Corner,’ Naples, Carnegie Library and more.
The film screenings are among the "University's" many eclectic "classes" that will be offered noon-to-9 p.m. at downtown LB restaurants. They include talks by chefs, artists and VIPs including LB Councilmembers Suja Lowenthal and Gerrie Schipske, LB Police Chief Anthony Batts, CSULB president King Alexander.
To view a full list of the "University by the Sea's" offerings click here.
Although some of the "University" festival events are free, others -- including access to the Jergins Subway film screenings -- require tickets which can be purchased online, click here Seating for the Subway film screenings is limited...and once tickets are gone, the opportunity will be gone.
The Jergins Pedestrian Subway, built as an amenity for visitors and residents in 1927, was the gateway to LB's former Pike and former downtown beach. In the 1960s, LB City Hall (whose decisions ultimately doomed the once-thriving Pike and downtown beach) sealed off the subway's entrances. | Photo source: www.universitybythesea.com |
Its northern end was paved over to accommodate a hotel. Its southern end is temporarily visible because a new building under construction on the south side of Ocean Blvd. isn't finished yet.
The University by the Sea web site www.universitybythesea.com, says former 7th district Councilman Mike Donelon of Donelon Construction is doing needed maintenance on the tunnel’s southern entrance and internal renovations to make the Subway accessible to the public.
Morgan Humphrey, a lifetime LB resident with expertise on the Jergins Tunnel, will be giving several lectures at the event on the complicated history of the structure.
"All my childhood memories start there,” Humphrey said about the northern entrance of the tunnel. “We'd always go that way to get to the ocean or the Jergins arcade. I wish I could go down there again." he says on the event web site.
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