The city of Long Beach is nearly finished tearing down its decaying Old English Village, a thematic tourist attraction that abutted the Queen Mary. For decades, the village served as a walkable panorama of 16th to 19th century British Architecture, filled with shops and restaurants that formed a cultural campus next to the moored ocean liner.
But after the village sat vacant for more than five years, demolition began earlier this month with an expectation to finish next month at a cost of $1.4 million, according to Economic Development Director Bo Martinez. This includes new asphalt paving on the quarter-acre site, where officials say the space will be used as additional room for events and parking.
The radical revisioning for the 53-year-old village is a long-time coming, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said at a press conference Monday.
“Demolition is certainly cool, but this is really about transformation and setting the stage for an exciting future here that is cleaner, is safer, more dynamic and more welcoming,” Richardson said.
Some memorabilia from the village, such as the antique telephone booths, have since been moved onto the Queen Mary.
The Old English Village — previously monikered the Queen’s Marketplace and Mary’s Gate Village — was built in 1972 as an ancillary attraction to the Queen Mary, which the city purchased and moored along the water in 1967.
Inside a seven-foot fence line on Monday, a crane clawed at the wood- and steel-framed storefronts blemished by chipped paint, termite infestation and shingleless roofs.
Even before demolition began, the village’s buildings had “sizable holes” in the roofing, holes in the walls, and “broken doors and windows,” according to a report from the Economic Development and Public Works departments.
The report also stated the buildings suffered from years of unabated mold, vermin infestation, vandalism and homeless encampments, though officials said the site has primarily become a fire hazard.
Demolition on Monday is another step in the city’s plan to overhaul its Downtown into a vibrant dining and shopping outpost centered around the historic vessel as a civic trademark. Nearby, crews are preparing for construction of the Long Beach Bowl amphitheater, which officials hope will start hosting bands and other performers by next spring.
After years of massive investment, the city says the Queen Mary is drawing crowds — 3,000 last weekend, according to one official — and is finally making a profit as a host for things like weddings, work mixers and even a funeral wake.
“And that was without a big concert or festival,” Richardson said. “And it’s not even fully open yet. There’s still more restaurants, other activities and amenities still to come.”