Little Old Fishing Pier to Get a Needed Beauty Rest

A stubby little fishing pier at Dana Point, which withstood the battering of waves for two decades before a harbor breakwater built in 1971 protected it, will be closed soon for a much-needed refurbishing.

For 90 days, starting in about a month, the pier in the harbor’s west end will be closed to its thousands of users, including 11-year-old Peter Rivera of San Clemente, who fishes there almost every day starting about 7 a.m., “when it’s peaceful.”

“Well,” he shrugged with a little smile, “they won’t close the jetties. I guess I can fish there for a few weeks, but only on weekends after school starts.”

Derek Morgan, a talkative Englishman who lives in Orange County and “likes the restfulness” of the pier, will have to find a substitute retreat.

“But I’ll be all right, he said. “I live one day at a time anyway.”

Since 1971, when Dana Point Harbor was completed, its pier has been the only one of Orange County’s seven piers that is not exposed to ravages of the sea.

But it has been heavily used, largely by fishermen who don’t really care about catching fish--there aren’t many there to be caught--but who enjoy the clean air and the camaraderie of other fishermen.

Bicyclists, joggers, walkers and students from the nearby Orange County Marine Institute go there to rest or to get a snack at the little hot dog stand operated by Paula Hops near the end of the pier. Scores of pigeons have made the pier their home.

The heavy deck planks have been worn and patched and repatched. Rust has appeared on metal fastenings. The ramp that leads down to a small floating dock is no longer usable.

The hot dog stand is to be moved ashore during the reconstruction. Several county officials said it hasn’t been decided whether the stand will ever move back to the pier.

Recently, the state Wildlife Conservation Board offered a grant of $66,950 to the county Harbors, Beaches and Parks Department on a matching-fund basis, for repairs to the pier. The county’s match will bring the total to $133,900.

But Mary Murray, project director for the county, said the lowest bid received was $157,000 from Anchor Marine Co., in Dana Point.

“That’s slightly higher than we had hoped, but the county will pick up the ($23,100) difference,” said Robert Wingard, Harbors, Beaches and Parks director.

Murray said the pier was built in the early 1950s, before construction of the harbor and seawalls in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It has been exposed to heavy swells and storm waves.

During the harbor work, 100 feet of the shore end of the pier was buried in dirt to create a parking lot, leaving just 304 feet extending over the water.

In a few months the pier will be restored with new decking, guardrails and landing ramp. Only the fate of the small, shingled hot dog stand built in 1958 seems to be in doubt.

Paula Hops, who has operated it since 1981, refuses to discuss the matter.