HUNTINGTON BEACH : Firm Hired to Plan Pier Plaza Complex

The City Council this week agreed to spend an additional $70,000 toward building the new municipal pier and hired a firm to design the plaza complex planned at the foot of the pier.

Including the increased spending, the city is scheduled to pay $557,200 to Moffatt & Nichol Engineers for consulting services on the pier construction, due to be finished next spring.

The additional cost to the city is covered by its contingency account, so it will not increase the $11.7-million total cost estimate of the pier reconstruction project, city spokesman Dennis Williams said.

The extra engineering consulting charges stem from additional work required because the construction company, Riedel International, will precast the pier deck rather than build it on site, according to a report prepared by Louis F. Sandoval, the city’s public works director. By precasting the deck, Riedel International was able to beat other pier construction bids by $3 million.

James Adams & Associates, a Newport Beach architectural firm, was hired by the council to design the pier plaza area. The council agreed to pay up to $50,000 for the design services.

The firm will devise several alternatives for the project, which may include the reconstruction of Maxwell’s restaurant on the south flank of the pier. The pier plaza is envisioned to include a parklike entrance to the pier, with landscaping and fountains. One plan includes a new home for the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum, now situated downtown.

The plaza will be designed in three phases, beginning with the entrance extending from Pacific Coast Highway to the foot of the pier. The firm will then design the plaza area north of the pier, and then the south portion.

Along with designing the plaza, the firm will analyze the existing Maxwell’s building to determine its structural soundness.

The pier plaza would cost as much as $5 million, an expense not included in pier reconstruction costs. The project, however, is subject to voter approval.

Under a recent legal opinion issued by City Atty. Gail C. Hutton, Measure C, a limited-growth initiative approved by voters last November, requires a vote before the pier plaza can be built.

The measure requires a citywide vote before the city may sell or lease any beach or parkland for a development costing more than $100,000 or spanning more than 3,000 square feet.