Clearwater High School - Aqua Clara Yearbook (Clearwater, FL)

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CHS The major summer contro- versy — to close the lot or not. Both alternatives were tried to relieve congestion prob- lems on the beach. by Barbara Sloan T hey say we ruined their business, they say we were too rowdy, they say we scared the tourists, and they say we were too obscene. They were the beach motel owners, beach merchants, and elderly beach residents. The motel owners fought long and hard to get the Pier 60 parking lot closed at night. New signs were posted to keep teenagers away. These signs can be found along Mandalay and in Pier 60 . parking lot. NO PARKING 10PM-6AM LOT CLOSED 2 30 AM -630 AM METERS ENFORCED 630AM - 700PM- Students Battle for the Beach with the motel owners and sunworshippers They won. By summer, the major parking lot, the weekend hangout for many teens, closed at 10pm. When the parking lot closed, Mandalay became one big traffic jam, from the fire station to the Carri- bean Gulf Hotel. Cars parked on side roads and the limited amount of parallel parking along Mandalay caused even more congestion. “When the city closed the lot, they didn’t think of what it would do to the traffic. I don’t know what they ex- pected us to do except drive around,” com- mented Ed Mealy. Students had to find new hang-outs. Some used Crystal Palace, the beach gameroom, and others went to Surfside. The ones who chose Crystal Palace found it becoming very crowded and often vis- ited by the local police. When Crystal Palace got too crowded the po- lice would come around and kick us out, leaving us nowhere to go, which usually just caused more prob- lems,” stated Christina Hopper. Others who went to Surfside helped to cele- brate the last night of Downs and Price, the singers who preformed every night at Surfside. “I like to go to Surfside to have a great time. Now, more people seem to hang out here than at Crystal Palace,’’ stated junior Greg Wes. The city soon found a temporary solution to the congestion. They hired a policeman to collect one dollar from every vehicle that en- tered Pier 60 parking lot after 7pm. This was suppose to help control the “rowdy” teenagers who used the beach as their hang-out. ‘‘It’s B. Sloan worth the money if you can get a bunch of friends to join you,” said junior Kenny Climo. When the city instituted this, they made parallel parking illegal after 10pm. While night beach problems were starting to settle, students found another side of the beach during the day. From the time the last bell rang to the time the first bell rang, students found the beach the place to go. “The first thing I did when I got home from the last exam was to (cont.) A place to hangout, a place to play video games, a place to meet friends. Crystal Pal- ace serves as all three of these. Will McEuen and T. ). Shano get a laugh from Bill Steuer. Beach II

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Crystal Palace, the beac S. Thomas Pier 60 parking lot was a big issue over the summer. The motel owners fought until the parking lot was closed at 10pm because “rowdy teen- agers scare the tourists away. After the city shut down Pier 60 parking lot. students had to go elsewhere. Surfside is one of the main beach hangouts. Ali Goldenfarb shares some laughs with Sue Matallo and Cindy Graham. B. Sloan 10 Beach fATy. gameroom and night hang- out, became even more popu- lar after the city closed the Pier 60 lot. Gary Kirkland strives for the high score on Donkey Kong Junior.

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One never goes to the beach alone. Erin Griffin, Andrea Hassell, Bill Hensley, Sidney Perkins, Wendy Kurland, and Bo Hitchcock wait for a few more friends before they go to the beach. To end the summer TVinity’s youth group visits the beach. David Barnett and Matt Hick- ey try to avoid the splash. The water provides for vari- ety of different activities. Students use the water to stay cool as they run from one pier to the other. Lemonade breaks are com- mon on a hot afternoon at the beach. Tony Emerson stares at the masses of people as he takes a short recess from skim boarding. 12 Beach T. Deifell T. Deifell