Ownership of Bruce’s Beach is getting closer to the family whose ancestors founded the Black seaside resort.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will vote on Tuesday, Dec. 22, to accept from the state the amended land deed for Bruce’s Beach so that it can legally transfer the property to the Bruce family.
Senate Bill 796 made the upcoming switch-off possible, taking effect immediately after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it in September. That gave the State Department of Parks and Recreation until Dec. 31 to amend the property deed and remove the restrictions previously placed on Bruce’s Beach.
The modified deed will allow the county to transfer, sell or build upon the land. When the state gave the land to the county in 1995, those moves were restricted, allowing only public recreation and beach use.
Bruce’s Beach Lodge — two parcels totaling nearly 7,000 square feet at 2600 The Strand, in Manhattan Beach — was an early 20th century seaside resort for African Americans at a time when Black people had limited access to the coast.
Willa and Charles Bruce, who were Black, bought the two parcels in 1912 for $1,225 and turned the land into the flourishing resort.
But in 1929, city leaders successfully used eminent domain to take over the land for reasons that were racially motivated. The lodge’s owners received $14,500 for the parcels, which now are worth millions of dollars.
The deed acceptance, on the consent calendar for Tuesday’s meeting, will almost certainly pass — as board members have consistently supported efforts to return Bruce’s Beach to Willa and Charles’ descendants. A consent calendar is a set of items considered uncontroversial, allowing the supervisors to vote on them all at once.
Upon accepting the changed deed, the county can give the land to the descendants of the Bruces, the rightful heirs of the land.
Although this step may seem bureaucratic, Supervisor Janice Hahn, in a Friday statement, said it is an important part of the plan.
Hahn spearheaded the county’s effort to return the land.
“LA County has owned this land for the past few decades, but the state had restricted our ability to transfer it,” Hahn said. “With those restrictions removed from this amended deed, we can finally move forward with returning this property to the Bruce family; we are a step closer to making history.”
In the meantime, the county is still appraising the land’s value, according to Hahn’s office, and will begin verifying the heirs who have come forward after Dec. 31. That assessment will take 30 days, Hahn’s staff said.
Once the heirs are confirmed, the county can enter into official negotiations with Bruce family, said Liz Odendahl, a Hahn spokeswoman, then it shouldn’t be long before the county signs the deed over to the Bruce descendants.