Known as Bruce’s Beach, the resort had offered black families a place to enjoy life in California and was a love affair for the couple. They bought the land in 1912 for $ 1,225 and built many facilities, including a café and locker room. But harassment by the White Neighbors and the Ku Klux Klan shattered their dreams. The last blow came in 1924 when the city took the property through a prominent property and paid the couple a fraction of what they asked for. The city wanted the land for a park. The property – now valued at $ 20 million – was moved to Los Angeles County in 1995. Homes right next to the property are valued at about $ 7 million each. Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that would allow the county to return coastal ownership to their descendants. The new bill was drafted by Senator Steve Bradford, who is part of the state’s newly formed special compensation group. “This is what the compensation looks like,” Bradford said, insisting that the county was not giving anything to the Bruce family, but was simply returning its stolen property. Tuesday’s vote concludes a proposal by Holly Mitchell, chair of the county supervisory board, to return the site, which is now a lawn park and lifeguard training facility. “We are not returning this land; we are giving it back to its rightful owners,” Mitchell said, calling it a “historic moment for our county.” The vote outlined plans to return the coastal property to the Bruce family. County officials will rent the property from Bruce under a 24-month lease totaling $ 413,000 a year to maintain the facility. Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who worked with Mitchell on the move, held back tears as she told the board: “This is going to be one of the most important things I have ever done.” The decision was a two-year effort by the grassroots movement, Justice for Bruce’s Beach. Kavon Ward, founder of Justice for Bruce’s Beach, told CNN that the decision on Tuesday was the fulfillment of her dream of seeing the earth return. “I feel a sense of peace. I feel joy. I feel honored that the higher ones would use me as a boat to help do this, to be the catalyst for that to happen,” he said. CNN’s Stephanie Elam, Anna-Maja Rappard and Camila Moreno-Lizarazo contributed to this report.
