Seal Beach : Restored Restaurant to Be Open for Viewing

The Seal Beach Pier restaurant, which is the subject of a Monday night City Hall hearing, will be opened for public viewing today from 10 a.m. to noon and on Monday between 9 and 10 a.m. The one-story structure was battered, damaged and finally shut in 1983. Finishing touches on its reconstruction were made last autumn.

A so-called public work session will be held at the beginning of the City Council’s regularly scheduled 7 p.m. meeting to discuss a controversial proposed lease with a San Clemente firm for operation of the currently unoccupied restaurant at the tip of the pier.

Some residents and council members said they felt unprepared to make a decision on the lease and protested some of the plans a Seattle contractor presented at the last council meeting on April 13, so additional discussion was sought through the public work sessions.

Storms and high tides during the winter months of 1983 destroyed the 1,865-foot-long pier and damaged the old cafe. The 77-year-old pier was rebuilt and reopened in 1985. Construction of a new restaurant wasn’t finished until September.

The proposed design, parking arrangements, height, operating hours, even the menu have been hotly debated.