Another Sad End in Saga of Pier That Won’t Stay Put

Estimates of storm damage to the Huntington Beach Pier edged toward the $5-million mark Monday after heavy seas that claimed the landmark’s End Cafe restaurant Sunday night took another 200-foot bite off the end of the pier before dawn. City officials called it the worst damage to the pier since 1939.

And as workers braced for another siege of high tides and heavy surf this morning, the Huntington Beach city administrator questioned whether the pier should be rebuilt to its former length--just two years after completion of its last costly repair.

Most City Council members, however, remain undecided. They said they will discuss the damaged pier at their meeting tonight.

“I think maybe we are tempting Mother Nature with that pier,” Huntington Beach City Administrator Paul Cook said Monday, surveying the beleaguered pier from end to end. “I think we will be considering seriously . . . whether to rebuild it that long. I’d be against it.” Cook said the pier was structurally sound and had no engineering or design flaws that could have caused the seaward end of the pier to be slammed upward by the force of pounding waves, the pilings lifted out of their moorings, then left to come crashing down into the water--as witnesses described the sight.

Cook, who was the city’s public works director before becoming city administrator last year, said he may recommend to the City Council that the 47-year-old pier be stubbed off near where the waves took their last bite.

Huntington Beach Mayor John Erskine said such a decision would have to be based on “what the community and the public want to do and what kinds of funds we can get.”

It was about 8:30 p.m. Sunday when the two-story End Cafe--severely damaged in the storms in March, 1983, but repaired and reopened with fanfare in 1985--was hit by waves crashing over the 20-foot-high pier. The restaurant and a 100-foot wooden end section of the pier were smashed off by the force of the waves.

“As a precaution,” Cook said, both the end of the pier and the diner had been closed to the public Sunday morning because the surf had left it slippery and unsafe. “We never imagined anything like this happening, though,” he said.

Sunday evening, cafe owner John Gustafson said he returned to his 1,000-square-foot restaurant to turn off some lights, clean up some food and activate a burglar alarm. He locked up and strode off the pier 10 minutes before it slammed into the ocean. Gustafson said he was near the base of the concrete and wooden pier when an employee told him, “It’s gone.”

By dawn Monday--long before the high tide hit--another 200 feet of pier and pilings were lost to the sea.

The 1,750-foot-long pier--now shorter by 300 feet--was rebuilt after 1983’s winter storms ripped it apart, leaving the damaged cafe and pier end teetering in the ocean. Repairs eventually cost $1.2 million.

After Monday morning’s onslaught, Cook surveyed the pier from end to end in sweat suit and a windbreaker. “It appears that what’s left of it is in pretty good shape,” he said, but he estimated that the cost for cleanup of debris will be from $500,000 to $1 million. Repairing the damage, he said, would cost $4 million to $5 million.

Cook said the city, which is self-insured--had set aside $500,000 in a reserve fund in this year’s budget for such natural disasters. “We spent that today, cleaning up the beaches,” he said.

“In all my 22 years, I’ve never seen anything like this,” Cook said, looking awed.

Erskine, who lives in a beachfront condominium just north of the pier, said, “I took a walk on it right after the end fell off. It was eerie; it was sad.”

Drawn by spectacular waves and the promise of more drama at the pier, thousands of spectators with cameras, video equipment, their children and friends lined Pacific Coast Highway along much of Huntington’s eight miles of shore Monday morning to watch the anticipated high tide at 7:52 a.m.

The damage, however, had already been done.

As in 1983 when storms damaged his restaurant, Gustafson was not insured. This time, he said, he figures his losses at about $200,000, “which is like losing everything.”

“If I thought it would help, I’d cry,” Gustafson said Monday morning at the base of the pier, where another of his eateries, Maxie’s Pizza--the Other End Cafe, was doing brisk business in coffee and cinnamon rolls. Most of the 15 cafe employees were helping him out at Maxie’s and planning a weekend memorial to mark the end of the End--again.

“I’m out of a job and I’m real sad,” said Tom Bagshaw, the 38-year-old End Cafe manager. The people there were like a family, and now it’s like we lost our house.” Of the memorial, he said, “We’ll probably get pizza and throw it in the water. Something symbolic.”

With the help of the Coastal Conservancy, the county and other agencies, as well as local contributions, the city paid for a new structure at the pier’s end after the 1983 storms. Gustafson said he had not made up his mind yet whether to give it a third try if its rebuilt again.

“If someone had just lost a baby, would you ask them right away if they wanted more children? It’s just too soon to say,” he said of the cafe he has owned and operated for about 10 years.

“I knew going without insurance was a risk,” he said of the “prohibitive” premiums. But it was the only risk he could afford, he said.

“After 1939 (storm damage), the place lasted through 44 years until ’83. I figured after we opened in ’85 that we were good for more than two years,” he said with a sigh.

The city took the same gamble--it is self-insured for storm damage because annual premiums ran to $250,000--and it lost, too, Cook said.

HUNTINGTON BEACH PIER CHRONOLOGY

1904--A 1,300-foot-long wooden pier is built.

1913--Construction begins on new concrete pier, 1,330 feet long. Cost, $72,000.

1914--Pier is completed.

1930--Pier is lengthened by 500 feet with cafe at the end.

1939--Hurricane destroys end of pier and cafe.

1940--Rebuilt pier and restaurant open.

1941--Navy takes over pier for submarine watch during World War II.

November, 1979--A report to city details structural deterioration of pier; recommends refurbishing pier (at cost of $5.4 million) or complete rebuilding (at cost of $7 million).

December, 1979--City Council authorizes a pier rebuilding project, but asks staff to seek state and federal funding sources. Plan does not progress.

March, 1983--Violent storm rips out 30 pilings and 500 square feet of deck and substructure. The End Cafe and a bait shack teetering at end of pier are demolished to prevent further damage. Estimated repair costs: $500,000.

September, 1983--Rebuilding of pier begins. Cost estimates rise to $781,000: about $500,000 from insurance, $200,000 from the county, $75,000 from city’s contingency fund and $1,500 from local fund-raisers.

March, 1984--California Coastal Conservancy loans $150,000 to city to replace and improve pier cafe.

March, 1985--California Coastal Conservancy loans city $275,000 for completion of cafe construction. Total pier rebuilding estimates rise to $1.1 million, including $360,000 for cafe.

September, 1985--Pier finally reopens with city-sponsored festival. Final costs include $900,000 to repair pier, $400,000 to repair and expand the End Cafe.

February, 1986--Pier closed for two days during heavy surf that damages structural and fender pilings. City Council votes $25,000 for repairs.

December, 1987--State Parks and Recreation Commission grants city request to build parking garage beside pier, but rejects bid for 10,000-square-foot restaurant atop garage.

Source: Los Angeles Times library; Huntington Beach Historical Society.