On Pine Avenue, beneath Ocean Boulevard, an elderly man with scissors snipped the pink ribbon and, as it fell away, the entrance to the Jergins Trust tunnel was once again opened Wednesday morning – along with 80 years of Long Beach history.
Morgan Humphrey, a lifelong Long Beach resident, cut the ribbon in front of the subway entrance, which opened it up to invited guests and the media. The public will be able to see inside the subway on Oct. 28 when a series of films are shown.
To set the mood of entering the tunnel built 80 years ago, Lis Roche and Jill Taylor, both senior theater majors, dressed in ’20s clothing and stood near the entrance to greet guests.
Ron Petke, former president of the Long Beach Historical Society, set up a record player in the back of the tunnel and played music from the ’20s to ’40s. He also occasionally brought out his ukulele and strummed along with the music.
Ryan Smolar, coordinator of University by the Sea, said the Jergins Trust tunnel was a last-minute bonus. He chose it for the film festival after being taken on a private tour of it with Second District Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal.
Smolar said he picked it because “it’s here. It’s cool.”
According to Smolar, it wasn’t easy getting permission to use the tunnel because so many different city departments were involved.
The films that will be shown display Long Beach’s history. Some of the films are home videos taken at The Pike while it was still an oceanfront amusement park and a major Los Angeles area destination. There will also be a first-person view of The Pike’s old roller coaster.
There will also be films from Balboa Studios, a Long Beach production company in the early 20th century, that feature Buster Keaton and Ken Larkey.
One film features Earl Daugherty flying over Long Beach in 1918. Daugherty was one of the first people in the country to obtain a pilot license, and in the film he grazes over Pine Avenue, steals people’s hats, and performs loop-de-loops.
The Jergins Trust tunnel was constructed in 1927 to provide safe passage for pedestrians to travel under Ocean Boulevard to the beach and The Pike. The subway is an art deco-style tunnel – a design featuring decorative tiles along the floor. Small kiosks and shops were once even opened up in the tunnel due to the amount of foot traffic through it. The area was nicknamed “Los Artesanos Village.”
The subway’s success didn’t last and, in 1967, the tunnel was closed for safety reasons, despite the tunnel having survived a 1933 6.25-magnitude earthquake.
In the ’80s, when the Jergins Trust Building was demolished, the entrances to the subway were sealed off and the subway was mostly forgotten. The tunnel was pushed further into the past when the Renaissance Hotel was constructed, which blocked off the north entrance of the subway.
Guests will be able to go inside the subway and watch historical films from noon until 8 p.m Oct. 28.
“It’s gonna kick ass,” said Smolar.
