Iconic Destinations don’t last forever

[Johndicezx9]

I remember going to a Doggie Diner as a kid!

The zeppelin was a bit before my time, but I did get to hold some pieces of it that were scraped up off the coast of Big Sur by some fishermen.

 

[BillSmith]

Old? You are if you swam in Fleishhacker Pool.

 

[smj]

Damn - I've been to Louis', the diner further upslope, and the Beach Chalet down by the windmill, but never made it to the Cliff House. Yeah, the commentary on the website is pretty damning. Getting a new tenant/concessionaire in finite time will probably depend on SF voters getting their representatives to make life difficult for the NPS.

A lot of places have closed permanently, and I'm sure we'll lose more before we see an approximation of normal again. Here's one short list of restaurants that closed in Berkeley - anybody got others?

Old? You are if you swam in Fleishhacker Pool.

Hmm, I should have seen the pool house before it burned in 2012, but way too late for the pool itself. Here's some more background info for others who missed it.

 

[afm199]

Hah. The Berlin Wall. Gone forever.

California, once a scenic paradise with maybe 8 million inhabitants when I came here. Gone forever.

Motel 6. Used to be $6.99 a night. Gone forever.

My youth.

 

[CDONA]

Earl Shibe paint jobs @ $19.95.

leaded gas @ $.17

 

[gixxerjeff]

Earl Shibe paint jobs @ $19.95.

leaded gas @ $.17

7/11 being open from 7-11.

 

[Wolf]

Quite a statement by the proprietors...

Yeah, I don't quite understand it. They say the original 20 year concession lease expired in June 2018, then the Park Service provided them with a 6 month and two 1 year extensions, and offered an additional 1 year extension currently....

But the statement is complaining about only getting short term extensions instead of a long term extension, and mentioning that the Park Service isn't helping them with costs.... would the long term contract have NPS paying for costs, but the short term contracts don't?

Certainly only hearing one side of the story.

 

[afm199]

I worked on the last real renovation, and that was probably 1980 or so.

Here's the deal. It's an ancient building with ancient plumbing, old wiring, needs lots of maintenance. The only thing it has going for it is location.

They never had a great chef and kitchen crew. I've worked on restaurants in SF that were successful. They were that for one reason, insanely good food and staff. Without that, you're fucked in that business.

Cliff House was, always has been, and always will be a tourist trap. The cost burden of running that dilapidated pile is quite literally insane. Nobody in their right mind would do it without huge concessions from the park service. It's a loser.