Morey's Gift Bag: New Bike Racks!
November 25, 2019
This post is part of a series on the five big gifts the elves at Morey’s Piers are busy building for our next season of guests, from new bike racks to comfier roller coaster vehicles. This way, if you stuff a loved one’s stocking with pier passes (discounted now as part of our holiday sale!), you can feel confident you’re offering the best Morey’s experience yet. Who knows? It may even land you on Santa’s nice list…
Your mission when you come to Morey’s Piers, should you choose to accept it, is to find your inner child, and let that kid run wild.
And what better way to relive your childhood than by hopping on a bike by the beach?
So, to make the piers as pedal-friendly as possible, we’re having custom bike racks built at the base of the Giant Wheel.
“You can find plenty of fine options online,” says second-generation partner Jack Morey. “But what fun is that?”
Instead, our racks have been designed by Richard Stokes, architect behind the Starlux, and they’ll double as public art, a sculptural and playful ode to our seaside location.
The galvanized steel installations, which will accommodate about 50 bikes, will be brought to life over the next several months by local iron worker Kevin Mitchell, and they won’t be the typical inverted U we all grew up with. Instead, one will be a beach ball, one will be an ocean wave, one will be a Ferris wheel, and one will represent the loopty loop of a roller coaster (that’s the technical term).
“Everything manmade has a chance to be art,” explains Jack. “And I think bike racks are a great way to express that. Streetscape is underappreciated.”
Of course, the racks serve a practical purpose, too. They’re part of an ongoing initiative to reduce our carbon footprint (See: A nearly $2 million investment into solar energy on our properties). And they align with our commitment to new urbanism, a development plan that prioritizes accessibility of public spaces by increasing transportation options.
“This is phase one of several phases to make sure guests have as many ways to get here as possible,” Jack says. “They should be able to use the ParkMobile app in our parking lots, they should be able to walk, they should be able to take the tram car, and they should be able to catch a ride on our new PigDog free taxi.”
PigDog… what? We’ve got more on that last bit coming soon, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, maybe add a new bike helmet to your wishlist this Christmas…