What does a downtown storefront become once the five-and-dime and then the drugstore are gone? At 239 Broadway, it became the place where Laguna Beach keeps its surfing history. It's free, it's open six days a week, and the main entrance is off a parking lot on Ocean Avenue, roughly a block from the sand.
The Surfing Heritage and Culture Center, known as SHACC, cut its ribbon on Friday, September 18, 2026, and held its public open house the next day, according to the Orange County Register. Six weeks later it has settled into a regular schedule. The building's history is the reason this opening matters more to Laguna than most.
A five-and-dime, a drugstore, and a quiet stretch
For decades the building housed the five-and-dime Sprouse-Reitz, and later Laguna Drug. When the pharmacy filled its last prescription, the Laguna Beach Independent reported that the city had no applications for a new tenant, and longtime customers were left looking for somewhere else downtown to buy greeting cards, holiday decorations, and flu shots.
The Register described the property, which runs between Broadway Street and Ocean Avenue, as an abandoned building before SHACC took it over. Board member Mark Christy got in touch with the owners after he saw it listed for rent. Escrow closed in December 2025, and executive director Jeff Alter told the Orange County Register at the time that permits were in place and demolition of walls and floors would start soon. In the end the building was fully gutted and its floors and walls replaced. Laurie Alter, owner of the furnishings company Tuvalu, did the interior design.
Downtown's other big fall project, the permanent Forest Avenue Promenade, was dedicated a week later on September 25. Mayor Mark Orgill told the Laguna Beach Independent the timing meant the opening was announced ahead of the fall and winter events. Between the two, the stretch of downtown closest to Main Beach looks noticeably different this November than it did a year ago.
Why this block, specifically
For years the collection sat in an industrial area in the San Clemente hills, about 2.5 miles from the coast and largely hidden from the public. Moving to Broadway brings it back to where it started. Founder Dick Metz, now 97, was surfing in Hawaii by 1950 and started collecting old wooden boards back when few people bothered to save them. In the 1990s he kept his collection in a small rented office above the Royal Hawaiian, right next to Main Beach. Christy told the Register the new building stands about 100 yards from the burger shop Metz's parents once owned.
When Metz explained to the Orange County Register why the building worked, he named a feature every downtown resident will recognize as rare:
"It's the whole thing, to have this building with this big roof and it's so open, and having it so close to the Main Beach where I grew up, and to have a parking lot in downtown Laguna, is beyond."
He gave the Laguna Beach Independent the same list of reasons: high ceilings, size, parking, and closeness to the beach. Part of the purchase was funded by selling the San Clemente building. Co-founder Spencer Croul told the Register that getting closer to the beach had been the plan since they bought the original property. "It feels really neat to be downtown a block from the ocean," Alter, son of surfing and sailing icon Hobie Alter, told the paper. "This just feels like where it should be."
The loop around the walls
The main floor reads as a timeline. Boards line the perimeter, and the design changes from redwood and pine to balsa, foam, and the boards people ride now. "You take the perimeter trip through time. That's your time capsule," SHACC historian and former Surfer editor Chris Mauro told the Independent. On SHACC's permanent collection page, the circuit is divided into four eras:
- Out of the Blue
- From Hawai'i with Aloha
- BOOM
- Revolutions
Three more exhibits sit alongside the permanent collection: "PAE KA NALU: Catch the Wave," "1930s: The Race to Compete," and "Santa Cruz." PAE KA NALU traces the deep roots of Hawaiian surfing and Duke Kahanamoku's influence on early California surfers. This part of the story has a local connection. The collection holds five boards that belonged to Kahanamoku, according to the Independent. Board member Randy Hild told the Register that two of them were shaped in Corona del Mar, when Kahanamoku came to Southern California to share the aloha lifestyle.
Some exhibits bring the story up to the present. The interactive "Stoke Machine" covers 20 waves around the world, from Nazaré in Portugal to Lower Trestles just down the coast, with a live cam, a geography lesson, and an explainer titled "why is the wave so sick?" On the wall, surf artist Phil Roberts' animation "The Ocean People" tells the origin of surfing and Hawaiian culture. A full exhibit on surf filmmaking includes pieces from the early career of Greg MacGillivray, a Laguna Beach resident and SHACC board member. A nearby display follows swimwear from wool bathing suits to modern boardshorts. "I love the fact that surfing is the only sport that has our own music, our own movies, our own fashion," MacGillivray told the Register.
Upstairs, where the magazines are
The second floor is easy to miss. Hild described it to the Register as a conference room and library open to the public, holding every issue of Surfer and Surfing magazine in order. On opening day he pulled out the first magazine article ever written about surfing, Tom Blake's piece in the May 1935 National Geographic. Blake was a good friend of Kahanamoku.
The archive is separate from the library. According to SHACC's archive page, in-person research access is by appointment. You send a description of your project, the materials you need, and your timeline, and SHACC replies within five business days. Remote scans and reproductions are available for most materials. Anyone researching an old family board, a local photographer, or a Laguna break's history now has an archive in town to ask.
Built to fill up after hours
Metz has been clear that the building should be used. "This is not a subdued museum," he told the Register. The exhibits in the center of the room are portable, so they can be moved aside to make space for up to 400 people. A bar and restaurant are available for entertaining, and the room can be set up for weddings and corporate meetings. A screen 10 feet wide and 16 feet tall, flanked by four wooden boards, is there for films and live sports. On opening day it streamed the Lexus Trestles Pro finals. Looking ahead to the LA28 Olympics, Metz said he hopes SHACC can serve as a meeting place for organizers and teams from different countries.
Getting there on an ordinary afternoon
SHACC's visitor page lists the basics:
- Address: 239 Broadway is the mailing address. The parking lot and main entrance are at 232 Ocean Ave.
- Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Mondays. Hours can change for holidays and private events.
- Admission: Free for everyone.
- Membership: Optional, starting at $50 a year. It includes event and exhibit-opening benefits, shop discounts, and preview nights.
- Without a car: OCTA Route 1 stops at Broadway and PCH, two blocks east. Bike racks are at the front entrance. The trolley SHACC mentions runs Memorial Day through Labor Day, so it isn't running this time of year.
Art + Nature week starts the same Thursday
On Thursday, November 5, SHACC is open its usual 11 to 6, and Laguna Art Museum's 2026 Art + Nature celebration begins that morning. Kim Manfredi's "A Flag Walk for Our Future" places four outdoor flag installations along a 0.7-mile coastal route from Main Beach through Heisler Park. The Register describes the new SHACC building as just steps from Main Beach.
| Date | Program | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 5–9, 8:45 a.m.–4:30 p.m. | Flag installations, Main Beach through Heisler Park, maps on site | Free |
| Nov. 5–9, 10–11 a.m. | Daily guided walks with Kim Manfredi, meet at the museum | Free, no reservation |
| Nov. 5, 5–7 p.m. | First Thursdays Art Walk, then Manfredi's artist talk at 6 | Free, talk requires advance registration |
| Nov. 7, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. | Art activities, DJ, and complimentary food on the Main Beach cobblestones | Free |
| Nov. 7, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. | Free admission to Laguna Art Museum | Free |
| Nov. 7, 6 p.m. | Dr. Lucy Jones keynote, "The Science of Resilience" | $35 members, $40 nonmembers |
Saturday, November 7 has the most going on. That day both the art museum and the surf museum are free, and there are free activities on the Main Beach cobblestones between them.
Kim Bibb follows how changes like the one at 239 Broadway shape daily life in Laguna Beach and along the Newport Beach coast. If a busier downtown has you wondering what your own coastal property is worth this season, Kim Bibb is available to talk privately. Request a Confidential Home Valuation.
