A Swell of Excitement : Redondo Beach Rejoices at Opening of Its Reconstructed Pier

The city of Redondo Beach reclaimed a vital piece of its civic identity Saturday afternoon with the official reopening of its Municipal Pier--fueling healthy bouts of nostalgia and hopes for a rebirth of beleaguered waterfront businesses.

Mayor Brad Parton wielded the oversized scissors that cut a ribbon to let the public onto the reconstructed pier for the first time. Its predecessor was largely destroyed in 1988 by a series of storms and a fire.

More than 3,000 people crowded onto the new concrete deck of the horseshoe pier, nicknamed for a distinctive shape that links it to the shore at both ends. Some came for the free food, surf music and balloons, but many were there just to recapture a memory.

The giant concrete deck and 202 concrete pilings should be impervious to fire, 10-foot tides and 20-foot waves “if that ever comes,” said Theodore Anvick, the engineer who helped design the structure. The design leaves mostly open space, as most residents had requested, instead of the old warren of T-shirt shops and restaurants. And a nautical theme is created by sail-shaped awnings, rails with portal openings and bronze dolphin insignias.

Only a stub of the old wooden pier closest to the beach, and a few businesses on it, had remained open.

Saturday’s ceremony was a cathartic moment for many in a community that owes much of its identity to the ocean and the pier.

Judy Milner, whose family lost a string of shops when the old pier burned, said she both cried and laughed over the reopening.

“Financially this is vital and emotionally it’s a real high,” said Milner, who still owns the Shark Attack gift shop on the part of the old pier that did not burn. “We raised our children here. And we all really missed it.

“It’s great to celebrate a place that is unique in the world,” she said.

*

Harry G. Johnson, 46, a lifelong Redondo Beach resident, said just walking back on the pier conjured up his first childhood memories--fishing and clam chowder lunches with his parents at the old Fish Peddlers restaurant.

Louie Zupanski, a retired contractor, clutched a bag of souvenirs from the festivities and said he had missed the pier every day since the closure. “I came here to relax and fish in the evening,” said Zupanski, who lives a short walk away. “It was old and it had a history behind it and it made you feel a part of something.”

Redondo’s pier, like most along the coast, has reflected the character of the community it serves. The carnival midway appearance of parts of the old pier marked Redondo as a tourist destination and more eclectic than either of its northern neighbors. The Hermosa Beach Pier is utilitarian and fishing-oriented, while the Manhattan Beach Pier is stylish but austere.

“If it weren’t for the pier, this would just be another bedroom community,” said Robert Sevilla, a Redondo Beach policeman who was hanging out at the pier on his day off.

“It’s tremendous to have it back,” agreed Tony Trutanich, whose namesake restaurants have been at the pier more than 40 years. Having just part of the pier open, he said, “was like having a golf course and closing 15 holes. All of a sudden we have 18 holes again and wow, now people are excited!”

He is still looking forward to the removal, within the next two weeks, of a 200-foot-long temporary construction pier that blocks his patrons’ views of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. A hand-lettered sign facing Tony’s at the Beach promises: “Tony, sorry for the mess. We’ll be gone by Feb.”

With all the good cheer, it would have been easy for many to forget that Saturday’s reopening might not have happened.

By 1988, when the devastating storms and fire hit, the Redondo Beach Pier was an amalgamation of two 60-year-old piers that had been connected a few years earlier with a “fishing promenade.”

Business people and city officials had assumed that rebuilding would begin as soon as possible. But they quickly ran afoul of a vocal group of neighbors, who said they were happy to be rid of the pier and the noisy and sometimes unruly crowds that came there.

*

They campaigned against reconstruction and were supported by some residents who feared that the $11-million price tag would lead to higher taxes or cut into other municipal services. But in 1991, after months of debate, the city’s voters approved the pier reconstruction--also saying they would like a replacement with more open space.

On Saturday, only the pier’s fans were in evidence, many wearing blue ribbons with a new twin-dolphin logo and others carrying balloons proclaiming this “The Year of the Pier.” Lifeguard boats sped past, sirens howling. A local high school ROTC unit offered a rifle salute. And Mayor Parton smashed a bottle of champagne across a new green railing.

Finishing touches are still being put on the pier, including the staining of hundreds of aquatic designs that are sandblasted onto its deck. And Redondo Beach just last week bought out one of the pier’s major leaseholders so the city will have more control over what kind of businesses to put on the 22,000 square feet of the structure that remain open for development.

But Zupanski hopes that much of the space will stay vacant, providing more room for him and his buddies to enjoy. He had spent most of the afternoon at the pier and was already making plans to return Saturday night for a little fishing.

“Now we are part of the new history, from now on,” he said. “I wouldn’t have missed this for anything.”