Santa Monica Pier planning process starts to get amusing.

The first phase of a three-phase, $38 million make-over of the historic Santa Monica Pier is scheduled to be completed by the end of this summer. And now the project's second, and most controversial, phase is moving forward.

The second phase calls for a year-round $6 million amusement park to be installed, which would transform the pier from a perennial money-loser for the City of Santa Monica into a lucrative money-maker.

The new "fun zone" would bring an estimated $5 million to city coffers each year. In prior years, by comparison, the pier has cost the city approximately $700,000 a year to maintain and operate.

City officials late last month sent out 94 requests for proposals to amusement-park operators interested in running the new pier-top fun zone.

Bidders must submit their proposals to the city by July 30.

While progress on the second phase proceeds, controversy continues to swirl over whether or not the year-round amusement park is in the best long-term interests of Santa Monicans.

City officials stress that the new year-round fun zone will only be slightly larger than the current fun zone that has operated during summer months on the pier for years.

The new park will contain 12 rides -- six "family" rides and six "kiddie" rides -- while the present 9-ride park contains three family rides and six kiddie rides.

Some nearby residents and business operators have argued that the new park, especially its 55-foot-high roller coaster and 85-foot-high Ferris wheel, will draw more gang members and other criminal elements to the waterfront area, as well as more panhandlers.

The current summertime park features a 60-foot-high Ferris wheel, and has no roller coaster.

City officials insist that adding a roller coaster is vital to "preserving the historic profile" of the pier because roller coasters have been operated there in years gone by.

Arguably even more important is the fact that the roller coaster would be the new park's biggest money maker, by far.

The new Ferris wheel has not escaped the scorn of critics either. That ride was originally proposed to be 115 feet high, but has since been scaled down to 85 feet to partially placate critics.

Besides the new rides, other sources of contention include the increased noise, traffic and air pollution that critics claim the new park will bring to the waterfront.

"I think the pier was at its finest when it was a quiet, meditative place where kids could go out and fish with their grand-dads," asserted Gary Neville, a 25-year Santa Monica resident and operator of the Georgian Hotel, located about two blocks from the pier.

"I'm saddened by the way this area is being overrun by outsiders; during Cinco de Mayo and Fourth of July it's like a war zone," Neville continued. "In light of the recent riots, you have to question the wisdom of developing something that's going to attract hordes of outsiders down here."

Neville said Santa Monica already has enough "carnival atmosphere" at the newly renovated Third Street Promenade.

Santa Monica City Councilman Dennis Zane defended the city's decision to expand its pier-top amusement park.

"Opponents have focused their arguments on the (85-foot-high) Ferris wheel and roller coaster, characterizing them as thrill rides that will bring gang members down here," Zane explained. "That characterization is wildly off base. These are designed to be family attractions and antique rides, not thrill rides."

Zane was particularly protective of the roller coaster, which has garnered the most criticism from opponents. He pointed out that the Santa Monica coaster will be 20 feet shorter and only half the length of the popular wooden coaster in Santa Cruz.

"This is a wimp coaster," Zane declared. "And it's meant to be that way because its clientele are going to be families and younger kids. It's not meant to rival any of the thrill rides in the region."

The new amusement park is to be on about 70,000 square feet of decking at the Pleasure Pier's seaward terminus. (The 413,056-square-foot Santa Monica Pier is actually comprised of two abutting piers. The Pleasure Pier, also known as the Newcomb Pier, is the shorter, wider portion to the south, and the Municipal Pier is the longer, narrower abutting portion to the north.)

The other component proposed for the second phase, besides the new amusement park, is a new $4 million restaurant/cafe/concert hall on the site of the dilapidated Sinbad's building. That wood-and-stucco structure has stood empty for at least the past 15 years.

The two-story Sinbad's building would be demolished, under plans submitted by developer Russ Barnard, and it would be replaced by a replica two-story structure with an adjoining one-story structure that together would accommodate a capacity crowd of 675 people.

On the ground floor, Barnard proposes to operate a concert hall that could seat 300 to 400 patrons, along with an adjoining informal cafe. Upstairs, Barnard would operate a more formal "white-tablecloth" restaurant.

His plan was unanimously approved by the City of Santa Monica Landmarks Commission late last year. But Barnard still must get approval from the California Coastal Commission and the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

"The earliest we could begin construction work would be late this year or early next year," said Barnard, who has operated the Tavern on Main pub nearby for the past five years.

He said he hoped to finish his new entertainment facility in 1993. But city officials said it will more likely open concurrently with the new amusement park in March 1994.

Barnard said he has hired Ab Abner, former president of Motown Records, as his music consultant.

"We'll be booking the same kind of acts as The Strand in Manhattan Beach," Barnard said, "major jazz and country acts, and second-line pop and rock acts."

Meanwhile, city officials are now preparing a series of public workshops to address the third and final phase of the three-phase pier restoration project.

The third phase will deal with redevelopment of the middle portion of the pier, where games of skill and fast-food restaurants are now located.

The games of skill are slated to be relocated into the new amusement park when that park is completed in 1994.

Originally, the city had proposed building a $17 million, 77,525-square-foot retail/restaurant/entertainment center on the pier's mid-section. But that plan was nixed because it would generate too much traffic, and because the seven pier-top restaurants contained in the first phase were determined to be a sufficient number of sit-down eateries.

However, a fast-food court is still envisioned as a possible component of phase three.

"Between now and the end of the year, there will be two major public workshops and a number of smaller meetings with select groups to discuss the third phase," explained John Gilchrist, executive director of the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corp. (That organization is a not-for-profit corporation set up by the city in 1985 to oversee the pier reconstruction.)

"Our aim is to have that (third-phase) portion open by the summer of 1996," Gilchrist added.

Councilman Zane revealed that one promising idea for the third phase is an "exploratorium," which would be a "fun" interactive science museum designed by prominent local artisans.