Venice : Venice Pier Grant OKd

The Los Angeles City Council approved a $30,000 grant from the state Coastal Conservancy this week to pay half the cost of an engineering study on the deteriorating Venice Pier, which was closed two years ago.

Joel Breitbart, assistant general manager of the city Recreation and Parks Department, said a consultant to do the study is expected to be selected within two weeks. Results of the study are expected in the fall.

Breitbart said the study will determine the extent of damage to the 1,200-foot-long, reinforced concrete-and-steel pier. He said the study will also look at the costs of repairing and replacing the pier.

The other half of the money will come from $500,000 that had already been approved in the city budget for demolition of the pier. The Coastal Conservancy is a state agency charged with preserving coastal resources.

The pier was closed in November, 1986, after pieces of concrete fell off. Engineers found that saltwater had corroded the steel frame and that the rusted steel was expanding, causing the concrete to break.

City officials decided to demolish the 25-year-old pier, saying they had not heard any community interest in saving it.

But at a public hearing last September, a boisterous crowd of about 150 people told Breitbart that they wanted the pier saved, or if it is beyond repair, replaced.