HUNTINGTON BEACH : A New-Wave Look at Wiped-Out Jack’s?

When the downtown home of Jack’s Surfboards is rebuilt later this year, it will likely reopen with restaurants or offices on two floors above the surf shop, City Council members said this week.

The council, in discussing the future of the 70-year-old building that has been closed since suffering structural damage last December, informally agreed that apartments or condominiums should not be included in new building. However, they did not vote on any specific plan.

Until an alarming bulge appeared in the structure’s brick exterior, the existing two-story building housed the popular surf shop and a tavern on the street level, with apartments upstairs. The building is expected to be demolished within a month to make way for a modern-style, three-story replacement, a key component of the city’s downtown redevelopment effort.

Council members said they believe the surf shop’s location at Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway, long considered the hub of the city’s downtown business district, is too important a site to be considered for residential use. The project architect had recommended that the upper levels be developed as either an 11-unit, twin-level condominium complex, two restaurants or a cluster of offices.

The council is scheduled to decide May 20 whether the upper stories of the building should be restaurants or offices. Construction on the new structure is expected to begin this fall, with the new home of Jack’s due to open a year later, city officials said.