By Jorge Casuso

Second of two parts

January 5, 2010 -- There were more than ten items that made The Lookout's list of top stories of the past decade. From an auto accident heard round the world to major buildings being replaced to ongoing efforts to make Santa Monica a smoke-free zone, there was plenty of news made during the past ten years in the 8.3-square-mile-city by the sea. Here, in no particular order, are our other choices of top stories.

Death Drive

On a cloudy July afternoon in 2003, George Russell Weller, 86, of Santa Monica drove his '92 Buick LaSabre through a crowded Farmers Market Downtown. His ride unleashed a wave of terror and destruction that left nine dead, including a three-year-old girl, and 63 injured, 13 of them critically.

Witnesses described what sounded like an explosion shortly before 2 p.m., followed by a chorus of screams punctuated by a wailing car horn, as bodies were hurled through the air or dragged, before the car -- its windshield and front end smashed -- came to a halt. What looked like shoes were on its roof. Weller, who appeared lucid when he exited the car with a cane, told police he couldn’t stop the vehicle.

"It looked like a war zone," said former Outlook Editor Skip Rimer, who worked at the paper from 1984 until it folded in 1998. "I can't remember anything like that. I've never heard of that many people killed in Santa Monica in one day."

In November 2006, a superior court judge reluctantly sentenced Weller to five years probation and nearly $100,000 in fines. In May 2008, there was finally a sense of closure, when the City of Santa Monica settled the case filed by dozens of victims against both the City and the Bayside District for $21 million.

Join the Club

On Saturday, April 25, 2009, hundreds of Santa Monicans flocked to the old Marion Davies estate at 415 PCH for the first time in more than two decades.

The dilapidated property had been red-tagged after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and it seemed the site where the biggest names in Hollywood -- Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson -- attended lavish parties would never be brought back to life.

Enter the Annenberg Foundation, which gave the City nearly $30 million to turn what was left of the estate built in the 1920s by newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst into a public beach club. But, true to Santa Monica squeaky wheel politics, not before some well-heeled NIMBY's negotiated some concessions that will costs the City millions to implement.

The new beach club features volleyball and beach tennis courts, event and meeting space, the Back on the Beach Café, children’s play areas, gardens and an accessible boardwalk extending westward toward the ocean. The facilities include the rehabilitation of the historic pool and guest house.

Butt Out

Santa Monica's battle to stamp out smoking in public places began in the 1990s, but it really picked up steam in the past decade -- reaching the common areas of apartments and condos in 2009.

Along the way, smoking was stamped out on the beach, and in outdoor waiting areas -- such as ATMs, bus stops and movie lines -- and areas around public buildings that are within 20 feet of entrances, exits or windows that can open.

In a highly publicized vote, the City Council in 2006 expanded Santa Monica’s far-reaching smoking ban to include all outdoor dining areas, farmers markets and the Third Street Promenade.

The tourism industry -- which pumps an estimated $50 million into the Santa Monica’s economy each year -- worried that the ban could hurt tourism. But City officials argued that that the health benefits will far outweigh any potential economic risks.

Go Downtown

As the decade came to a close, the Third Street Promenade was celebrating its 20th anniversary. Its first ten years had put the destination -- improvised by a band of business owners and young radical politicians -- on the map. The next ten years stamped it as an international destination that drew some 10 million visitors and year and generated $300 million in sales.

But as the second decade drew to a close, new venues like the Grove were gaining ground. Bayside District officials thought it was time for a major overhaul.

In 2008, property owners voted to form a new business assessment district that would generate $3.6 million a year. A new 11-member board quickly used the money to boost maintenance, enhance marketing efforts and create an “ambassador program” to inform visitors and help keep the streets safe.

The world-renowned destination also became a neighborhood strip as Downtown became a prime place to live, with more than 1,000 new residential units going up on 5th, 6th and 7th streets.

Slowly Building

There were no major developments in Santa Monica during the past decade to rival the massive projects of the 1980s and 1990s -- such as the Water Garden, the Arboretum or MGM Plaza (now the home of Yahoo.)

In fact, outside of the new RAND Corporation headquarters, most of the major projects were either re-developments of existing mega structures or City projects.

Saint John's Health Center saw major portions rebuilt to make the hospital a state-of-the-art medical facility, and Macerich ended up with an ambitious remodel of its 550,000-square-foot Santa Monica Place after a development plan that included three 21-story condo towers was shot down. Slated to open in 2010, the remodeled mall will feature an open-air courtyard, upscale shops and a food court on the top floor with sweeping ocean views.

The City unveiled two new structures -- a new $62 million public safety facility and a new $57.7 million Main Library Downtown.

Class Act

Perhaps some of the best buildings to rise in the beach city belong to Santa Monica College -- which wasn't required to go through a City process that has seen designs dumbed down as Council and Planning Commission members -- not to mention those on the ARB -- pull out their T-squares. Virtually all of SMC's new facilities have won architectural and design awards and adhered to the college's commitment to being "green."

Some – such as the new Quad – created a pleasant gathering spot for students. Others – such as the new Bundy Campus at the Santa Monica Airport – were part of the college’s ongoing effort to ease the population crunch at the main campus on Pico Boulevard.

Fueled primarily by bond measures approved by Santa Monica-Malibu voters in 2002 and 2004, the new facilities have made SMC’s original 1950s-era main campus almost unrecognizable today. Since opening a new Science Complex in fall 1999, the college also has modernized and expanded its library, found a Downtown home for its 35-year-old Emeritus program and opened a new Humanities & Social Science Building.

Its crown jewel is the $45 million SMC Performing Arts Center on Santa Monica Boulevard. Made up of the 499-seat Broad Stage and 99-seat Edye Second Space black box, it is the only facility of its kind on the Westside.

SMC's transformation will continue into the new decade. In 2008, voters easily approved a $295 million bond to fund other modernization projects.

Lining Up the Rail

The Expo Light Rail train is still at least half a decade away from rolling into the Downtown Santa Monica, but the project turned some major corners during the past five years and is finally headed down the homestretch.

As recently as 2007, the project to extend the line from Culver City was stalled when money failed to materialize. The California Transportation Commission kick-started it with $315 million, but the project still faced a $640 million shortfall due to optimistic construction estimates.

The following year, the train drew nearer after LA County voters in November approved a tax hike for public transit. Then, last year, its started to take final shape, as County transit officials approved a route down Colorado Avenue that will end up at the current site of the Sears Automotive building Downtown. And it could get there as soon as 2015.

The final cost estimate -- between $1.1 billion and $1.6 billion.