[dropcap size=big]D[/dropcap]epending on who you ask, the Ports O’Call Restaurant either stood in the path of inevitable progress for 20 years, well past its time, or it was the crown jewel of the San Pedro port with the full support of the community.
Wrapped up in the debate over the restaurant, the suicide of a loyal staff member drew a tragic link to a complex community struggle.
The 57-year-old ocean-front restaurant was seized by the city and locked down by L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies early morning Tuesday, July 17, to make way for a new mixed-use development project. Its giant fisherman statues were torn down and hauled away. Its workers, who arrived that morning expecting to prepare plates and drinks, were forced to carry food in their arms as they ran out in a panic. The restaurant's biggest community champion was threatened with arrest. And its owners, the Wislon family, who fought a prolonged legal battle to keep it open, were left powerless to stop the course of time.