Postscript: Reconstruction of Huntington Beach Landmark Finally Comes Into Sight

It has been nearly two years since a fierce March storm swept the End Cafe, the landmark restaurant at the end of the Huntington Beach pier, into the ocean.

And although there have been plans to rebuild the restaurant since 1983, controversy over the new cafe’s design and underestimations of the cost of the project have delayed construction of the new building.

But if all goes according to plan, the city-owned cafe will reopen this summer at the end of the 1,800-foot-long pier, in the exact spot where its predecessor stood for 40 years.

The City Council approved a design for the new cafe six months ago, but only after protests from some pier business owners and pier regulars that the first architectural draft of the building was out of character with the rest of the pier.

Along with plans for a copper roof and cedar siding, the height of the building was a source of contention among council members, who for more than a year debated whether to make the structure one or two stories high, said Paul Cook, director of public works for Huntington Beach.

Meanwhile, the cost of restoring the pier and constructing a new restaurant continued to rise. The city had spent $700,000 of the pier reconstruction fund to rebuild the pier and had only $70,000 left for the restaurant.

Last December, the City Council approved a loan of $240,000 to make up the difference in the cost of the $310,000 building.

Funding for the reconstruction project came from insurance payments, a state loan and a county grant, according to city officials.

While the controversy concerning the cafe’s design simmered in Huntington Beach, piers in San Clemente and Seal Beach, both damaged extensively by the same destructive storm, were being restored. The Seal Beach pier has scheduled a grand reopening for Sunday.

In Huntington Beach, however, where damage to the pier was not as great, the last pilings--underlying structures that support the pier--are just now being driven into the shoreline.

After all the haggling, the new restaurant still has its detractors.

Ella Christensen, the owner of several pier businesses who is known as the unofficial “queen of the Huntington Beach pier,” was one of the most vocal opponents of the original design and still has reservations about the new cafe.

“I still think it’s the wrong thing to do,” Christensen said about the installation of a second floor.

“I don’t know why they want a second story. You can see just as much from the first floor. . . . I still haven’t seen anyone in favor of it,” said Christensen, who last year surveyed her customers for their opinions on the design.

But City Councilman Bob Mandic says at least the city is ready to complete the project rather than risk “losing another whole summer’s worth of business.”

Others, too, are ready for the comeback of the End Cafe.

“I’ve been patiently waiting for when the new building is available to move back into,” said John Gustafson, who ran the original End Cafe and will run the new one.