PORT HUENEME : Restoration OKd for Fishing Pier

The original Port Hueneme Beach fishing pier, weakened by dry rot, will be restored as part of a $500,000 project approved by the city’s Planning Commission.

The commission granted the city’s public works department a permit Wednesday to tear down a 361-foot onshore section of the pier built in the 1940s and replace it to conform with the 924-foot pier extension built in 1968.

Assistant City Planner Greg Brown said the original pier remains open and is safe for pedestrians, but its timber is rapidly deteriorating from dry rot.

Plans call for widening the onshore pier from 15 to 17 feet to improve emergency vehicle access and for treating the wood with fire-protection chemicals that will lend a greenish tint to the pilings, decking and handrails.

The public works department also received City Council authorization Wednesday to acquire designs for a plaza entry to the pier that would include a decorative archway, viewing areas, flagpoles and landscaping. A permanent lifeguard tower also would be built to replace a fiberglass guard station dragged onto the pier each summer.

The restoration project is expected to begin this winter and be completed by Memorial Day. Brown said the older pier section will be closed when construction begins, but the newer section stretching over water will remain accessible from stairs on the beach.