Seal Beach : Fund Raising Lags for Repair of Pier

Watching helplessly as flames billowed from the Municipal Pier this spring, Daisy Funk’s first thought was that it was happening all over again.

Nine years earlier, fierce storms decimated Seal Beach’s beloved seaside landmark, prompting Funk and other residents to launch a campaign to raise money for the pier’s reconstruction.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. Here we go again,” said Funk of the May 15 fire that burned 75 feet of the pier’s midsection. “I wondered whether they’d get the fire out or if it was going to burn down. . . . It was really shocking.”

In the end, the pier sustained only moderate damage, enough though for Funk and others to re-establish the Save Our Pier organization and begin raising funds for repairs.

So far, the group has raised more than $6,000, much of it from the 40 or so people who donated $100 or more to have their names included on a plaque that will be placed on the pier. The donations were presented to the city at last week’s council meeting.

The fire, blamed on an electrical short, caused about $250,000 in damage. That amount will be covered by insurance, but the cash-strapped city still must pay a $100,000 insurance deductible, City Manager Jerry L. Bankston said.

Seal Beach has appropriated money to pay the deductible and recently hired an engineering firm to prepare specifications that the city will use to collect construction bids, Bankston added.

Fund raising for the pier has been slower this time around because the landmark sustained far less damage in 1992 than it did in 1983, Funk said.

“When the pier was gone, it was very emotional. Now the pier is still here and people can use it,” Funk said. “It’s not as bad.”

Nearly $200,000 was raised in response to the 1983 destruction. It was two years before the pier was rebuilt.

Anyone wishing to make a donation can call (310) 598-7202.