Marine World’s 17-year run started 50 years ago

Elephants, sea lions, whales and other creatures of the wild once lived in the Redwood City area that is now home to the Oracle campus and has street names like Marine Parkway and Twin Dolphin Drive, even though there’s not a dolphin in sight. From 1968 to 1985, the area was the location of Marine World-Africa USA, a marine mammal-themed amusement park built on 62 acres of Belmont Slough adjacent to a growing residential development that became today’s Redwood Shores. Those who knew the park’s glory days firsthand recently gathered for a reunion at Marvin Gardens in Belmont, an old watering hole for Marine World workers from the 1970s and 1980s, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the park’s debut. The Oct. 20 and 21 reunion of employees that drew 200 people was organized by Jeff Tateosian, Marine World’s director of operations. Tateosian said the celebration may be the last chance to get together, noting that most of the former staffers are in their late 50s to late 70s. According to Tateosian, more than 8,000 people worked at the Redwood City park during its 17-year run. “It was not only the first job for 90 percent of them, but to most, the best job they ever had,” he said. The former employees included Julie Armstrong, the park’s public relations manager, who said the workers ranged from animal handlers and veterinary technicians to water skiers. “We were all so young and full of love for the animals,” said Armstrong, who now lives in Pacific Grove. “We shared a common bond of entertaining and educating, but had an incredibly fun time in the process.” Jim Bonde said he never felt working at Marine World was “just a job.” “Marine World was a wonderful and crazy place to work, and it will never be duplicated,” he said. “It’s too bad because I think the Peninsula could really use more places to have fun!” Opening day on July 18, 1968 drew thousands, some reports estimated up to 25,000 or so, to the park that consisted of four islands connected by waterways and bridges. Marine World-Africa USA’s attractions included thousands of exotic fish in seven huge tanks, whales, dolphins, sea lions and two stadium theaters for performing animals. There were also water ski and boat tours and Judy the water skiing elephant, a big hit. Over the years, the park thrilled millions of visitors, a success that ultimately doomed it, according to Tateosian, who said Marine World simply outgrew itself. The original park was designed for crowds of 3,000. By the 1980s, visitors in the summer weekends routinely hit 12,000. There was no land to expand so a new home was needed and eventually the whole operation moved to 135 acres in Vallejo. “We join the thousands of Peninsula residents who will miss having Marine World as a neighbor,” the Redwood City Tribune said in an editorial headlined “So long, Marine World.” The Tribune called Marine World “a zoo without cages.” The park was good copy for the paper. Its “morgue” contains 30 envelopes of stories about Marine World. Still, the editorial was positive about the move to Vallejo, saying the “large site should be better than ever. It will just take longer to get there from here.” Marine World closed in September 1985. A steel barge was used to take 800 animals to Vallejo and workers eventually dismantled amphitheaters, uprooted palm trees and bulldozed hot dog stands. Fire departments burned down what was left. Today, Redwood Shores has a population of more than 4,000 people who live in multi-million dollar homes, condos and apartments that line lagoons and other waterways. After Marine World-Africa USA departed for Vallejo, Redwood City had to deal with another loss. A year later the San Francisco 49ers football team, who had practiced in Redwood City since the 1950s, announced they would train in Santa Clara.

The Rear View Mirror by history columnist Jim Clifford appears in the Daily Journal every other Monday. Objects in The Mirror are closer than they appear.