Local News in Brief : Huntington Beach : $25 Buys Contributors a Piece of the Pier

A clever gimmick brought in about $37,000 in cash and pledges Thursday night at the Huntington Beach Pier, where a party kicked off a yearlong fund-raising drive to rebuild the closed landmark.

Those who contributed $25 or more received a grant deed labeling as theirs a square foot piece of the future pier, a piece of “real estate” that the owner will actually be able to stand on.

“We’re thinking this might make a good Christmas present,” said City Administrator Paul E. Cook.

Those who donated $50 received their own grant deeds “plus some pens and things,” and $100 contributors will be remembered with plaques on the pier bearing their names. All of the above, plus an official drawing of the pier, will go to the $250 donors. Those who contribute $500 also get their name on a City Hall plaque. For $1,000, donors get their names engraved “in a special way,” Cook said. The end of the pier was torn off during high seas last winter. City officials closed the pier July 13 after engineers determined that years of exposure to the elements had crippled its steel skeleton of reinforcing beams, creating a public hazard.

Cook said he hopes construction on the new pier can begin by June, 1989. Anyone interested in contributing may call Huntington Beach City Hall public information at (714) 536-5201.