Redondo Beach Officials Plan Pier Fund-Raisers

Redondo Beach officials plan to use public fund raising for money to rebuild--and possibly expand--the fire-ravaged section of the city’s pier that they hope to have rebuilt in a year.

An intense fire engulfed most of the horseshoe-shaped Fisherman’s Wharf section of the pier Friday, destroying 15 businesses and causing $7 million in damage to public and private property.

It would cost about $2.5 million to rebuild the 34,000-square-foot section of the wooden pier, or $4 million to build one of steel and concrete, said Ken Montgomery, city engineer and public works director.

City officials said they regard the disaster as an opportunity to build a better pier. “We can’t mourn the past, we have to look to the future,” Harbor Director Sheila Schoettger said.

The size, shape and height of the pier may also change, and the city may consider providing additional public and business space there, City Manager Tim Casey said.

“Everything is back on the drawing board,” he said.

City officials said they have received numerous calls from people who want to organize benefits--such as athletic events, concerts and bake sales--to help pay for rebuilding the pier. Howie Long, a defensive end for the Los Angeles Raiders and a Redondo Beach resident, has volunteered to get professional athletes to participate, said Councilwoman Kay Horrell, whose district includes the harbor.

Schoettger said the pier attracts 4 million visitors a year, “and if each one of them could contribute a dollar, we’d have that pier rebuilt.”

It will be several weeks before the city knows if it will be eligible for state or federal funds, Casey said.

The insurance company for Redondo Beach has told city officials that the pier was not covered by the city’s policy, Casey said, adding that the policy is still being reviewed. The city has tried every year since at least the 1970s to get the pier insured, but no company would even quote a price for the wooden pier, he said.

The city thought it obtained coverage for the pier in 1985--with $50,000 annual premiums and a $500,000 deductible--but the policy was written to cover a concrete pier, and the company canceled when the city pointed out the error, Casey said.

All of the undamaged businesses on the pier reopened Saturday, but most were forced to close again late Sunday afternoon as wind-swept waves washed away most of the skeletal remains of the charred section of the pier and caused another $200,000 in damage. The waves did extinguish the smoldering remains of the pier, however.

Broken pilings, tossed about by the waves, slammed against the pier beneath Cattlemens Steak House, causing part of the restaurant to fall into the ocean. Another part of the restaurant collapsed on top of the pier, which is supported by a single piling at that point. Hundreds of spectators, who came to view the remains of one disaster, witnessed another and cheered as the restaurant collapsed.

The restaurant, which was on the northern end of the horseshoe-shaped pier, was badly damaged in a January storm and had not reopened. The city had planned to begin repairs on that section of the pier this week but is putting off the work indefinitely.

City officials may knock down what remains of the restaurant and the pier beneath it, rebuilding it along with the fire-damaged section, Casey said.

The city must first negotiate such plans with the businesses involved. The city owns the pier but leases it to three master lessees who sublease the property or operate businesses there. Cattlemens and all the fire-damaged businesses are under the master lease of Jay Robinson.

The remaining pier businesses reopened again Monday and, while business owners worried that visitors would not return to the pier, some city officials speculated that the remaining businesses would do better without the competition.

“I don’t like to prosper on other people’s misfortunes,” said Oren Bornstein, co-owner of the Starboard Attitude bar at the southern end of Fisherman’s Wharf. His business was not damaged in the fire or the storm. “It’s just difficult, you can’t fight the elements,” he said.

In January, a severe storm--coupled with high tides--hit the harbor, which includes the pier, and caused $17 million in damage. On April 30, wind-swept waves caused another $1.25-million damage to the pier and demolished a 155-foot fishing promenade that connected the straight section, known as Monstad Pier, and the horseshoe-shaped section.

Redondo Beach Police Officer Phil Keenan, who is assigned to the pier, said: “Now in the morning, I grab my gun, my bullets and my tide book.”