Venice

canals

By suhas sahai
B-Arch , 7th sem

THE LOST CANALS OF VENICE

Venice of America was founded by tobacco millionaire

Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a beach resort town.

When Venice of America opened on July 4, 1905, Kinney

had dug several miles of canals to drain the marshes for
his residential area and bring a taste of Venice to America.

He also built a 1,200-foot long pleasure pier

with an auditorium, ship restaurant, and
dance hall, constructed a hot salt-water
plunge, and built a block-long arcaded
business street with Venetian architecture.

Despite appearances, Abbot Kinneys vision was for more than a theme
park attraction. Inspired by Italian Renaissance period, Kinney imagined a
beach community that would foster a cultural Renaissance in America.

Gondolas imported from Italy

The canals were the first and

central attraction to Kinneys
Venice of America.

In 1924, the canals were under attack by new forces elected to

Board of Trustees. The civic Betterment League, having no
connection to Kinney Company, decided to build more roads in
Venice in the name of progress. By 1929, most of the canals were
paved. That same year, oil was discovered on the Venice Peninsula.

From 1924 to 1929,

the Venice canal
residents fought the
decision to pave the
canals in the court.
The residents argued
that the pavement
would result in reassessment of their
propertys value and
they would lose the
park-like atmosphere

Los Angeles neglected Venice for more than three decades and the canals became
nothing more than a sewer

In 1960s, theVenice Canal area became a home for artists and

beatniks. Beat writers such as Philomene Long, Clair Horner,
Shanna Moore, Frank Rios, Stuart Perkof and Tony Scibella
originated out of Venice

Reconstruction plans for the canals were under

discussion for decades. Finally, in the 1970s and
80s, action was taken to clean up and reconstruct
the canals. The fate of the residents was still
shakey.

After the California Commission approved the citys

canal restoration project, work began on February 1992.
Venice residents helped in canal improvement the way
did everything, by working together. On October 19,
1993, reconstruction of canals was complete.

Now completely restored, the Venice Canal area is

one of the most coveted locations in Los Angeles.

With time however, the smaller houses have

been replaced by larger modern homes. Many of
the original artists, writers and community
members have been forced out of the area, as
real estate prices have escalated.

The canals themselves go for about as long as you would like to walk. It is just a nice place
to take a leisurelystroll and take in the beautiful and serene area that seems almost out of
place in the chaos of Venice Beach.
Almost every house on the canals has a dock and a good half of them have some form
of boat that they can take on the water. It seems like it would be a pretty cool life to
simply walk outside your door, get in your gondola and travel down the waterway to the
neighbors house.

THE BRIDGES

Each canal seems to have at least two or three bridges that connect the two
sides. While walking the area you will not have a hard time cutting across to
adjacent sides, as there are enough bridges to make walking easy, but not
enough to detract from the view.

CONCLUSION
The canals are now a quaint upscale
neighborhood in Venice. Fully restored and
remodeled homes make it a postcard scene
along the canal shores. Venice California
originally was to be a copy of Venice, Italy,
canals and all. Few of the original canals
remain today.