A lifeguard tower in rainbow colors planned at West Street Beach will celebrate the gay community’s history in Laguna Beach. It is expected to be in place by summertime.
The tower, which will be constructed in colors to represent the Pride flag, got a boost with a $10,000 donation from two community members recently accepted by the City Council, allowing the project to move forward.
The city is preparing to take over South Laguna beaches from the County of Orange and will place six new lifeguard towers from Aliso Beach to Thousand Steps Beach, including the one planned at West Street Beach. Each tower will cost about $30,000.
The Pride-themed tower will be the first in Orange County, but there others on the sand in Long Beach, Hermosa Beach, Venice Beach and Santa Monica Beach.
“It is known as a gay beach and the gay community was very interested in this idea,” said Councilwoman Sue Kempf, who recently took a moment during a council meeting to thank longtime Laguna Beach residents Steve Chadima and Mark Porterfield for their donation. “I think it’s a nice idea and a tribute to the history there. It’s so much easier now that we have control of the beaches there.”
The tower was first suggested by Craig Cooley, president of Laguna Beach Pride 365, but the donation from Chadima and Porterfield helped make it a reality. The donation is one of many contributions the couple has made to Laguna Beach. Another gesture to honor the city’s history celebrating the LGBTQ community is an iconic bench they funded for Mountain Street that sits close to where the Boom Boom Room, the legendary anchor of a one-block district of popular gay bars, once operated. The Boom, as it was known, was shuttered in 2007.
Chadima and Porterfield, who met at The Boom 37 years ago, have made other contributions to the city’s Marine Safety Department, and to the city in general. They recently provided jet skis and boats for the lifeguards and they underwrote the city’s…
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