Questions Raised Over Restoration : Landmark: Some leaders insist on restoring the battered pier. Others say perhaps its length needs to be shortened or reinforced to endure the pounding surf.

With the city’s historic pier receiving some of its worst storm damage in 123 years, Ventura leaders Wednesday raised questions on how--and whether--the crippled landmark should be fully restored.

Less than a year after the wooden pier was clobbered by waves and closed to the public, frustrated city leaders indefinitely barricaded it Wednesday after rough seas sheered off nearly one-fourth of the 1,958-foot-long structure.

Some city leaders insist on restoring the pier, considered Ventura’s crown jewel and key to its efforts to spruce up downtown and attract tourists.

But others question the wisdom of rebuilding the aging wharf, saying perhaps its length needs to be shortened or reinforced with materials that might better endure the pounding surf.

“We are very frustrated and concerned,” Ventura Public Works Director Ron Calkins said as he stood at the pier’s collapsed edge Wednesday morning. “Maybe we should consider shortening it, maybe consider steel pilings at the end of it.”

Pre-dawn waves tore about 420 feet of decking and 150 telephone pole-sized pilings from the pier, leaving wood beams dangling in the surf and city officials perplexed as to how to prevent further damage.

City officials are waiting on a “pier forensics” study to be completed, an autopsy of sorts on why the pier was so badly damaged by Wednesday’s high surf.

The city plans to hire an engineer specializing in wooden piers to sift through debris coughed up on nearby beaches to determine what caused the wharf to break.

Although city officials believe the old structure simply could not withstand the force of 18- to 20-foot waves, they have not ruled out a design or structural flaw as a contributing cause.

“That’s why we are pulling it up on the beach to have a look,” Mayor Jack Tingstrom said.

Councilman Steve Bennett doubted whether flaws had anything to do with the pier’s collapse. Its overall length, he said, may be its Achilles’ heel.

“It may be impossible to have a pier like that that can stand up to Mother Nature,” Bennett said. “It may not be a flaw. It may not be doable.”

The structure, the longest wooden pier in California, was closed for 13 months and reopened in October 1993 after a $3.5-million restoration. About a year later, the pier was closed after winter storms tore out 60 pilings, which cost $500,000 to replace.

Officials estimate it would cost more than $1.5 million to repair the damage from the latest storm.

The city has a $3.8-million insurance policy, with a $100,000 deductible, on the pier. The policy does cover wave damage.

“We’re just having all the engineers do their assessments and develop a game plan,” Ventura parks manager Bill Byerts said.

That game plan could include restoring the pier to its original length or rebuilding it as a shorter span. City leaders also must weigh whether to reinforce the structure with wood or steel beams.

“It is going to be a major decision for the council,” Tingstrom said. For his part, the newly elected mayor wants to the see the pier rebuilt to its historic length.

“Definitely,” he said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “It is a very historical monument to the city, like the mission.”

But the mission has not endured year after year of expensive repairs as a result of storm damage, and some officials say the council needs to carefully consider whether the broken section should be replaced.

“It is not an automatic,” Bennett said. “Two poundings in two years means we need to carefully analyze the benefits and risks of rebuilding.”

Councilman Jim Monahan said the city should consider reinforcing the pier with steel pilings. And while he supports rebuilding the landmark, he says the length may have to be shortened.

“I think everyone will agree to restoring it,” he said. “Whether we can go a full 1,700, 1,800 feet, I don’t know.”

Like its teetering pilings, the pier’s unstable future was a popular topic of conversation up and down the Ventura coast.

“I am bummed,” said Ventura resident Julie Serrano, starring at the broken pier. Although she wants the pier rebuilt to its original length, she said, “I would rather have it shorter than not at all.”

Camarillo surfer Larry Livesey watched waves crash against the pier through binoculars from Surfers Point Wednesday.

“I think it is crazy for them to keep rebuilding it,” he said. “The pier’s neat. But, gosh, the money they keep putting into it.”

The debate over repairing the few old, wooden piers that line the California coast is not a new one. Seal Beach, Huntington Beach and Santa Barbara have wrestled with the issue in recent years.

During its long history, the Ventura Pier--considered the state’s oldest by some--has been burned, infested with termites, rammed by a ship and endured countless storms that have broken it at least four times.

“That is one of the things you have to learn to live with with a wooden pier,” parks manager Byerts said. “They take a beating.”

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History of the Ventura Pier

1872--The original pier, 1,200 feet long, is built by R.G. Salisbury, builder of Stearn’s Wharf in Santa Barbara.

1877--The pier is damaged by storms but repaired within weeks.

1914--Skipper tries to steer steamer S.S. Coos Bay away from pier, but a huge swell sends the boat crashing into the structure, slicing it in half. It is repaired three years later.

1934--A fire burns and destroys much of the wooden pier.

1986--The pier is closed after damage from heavy winter storms and partly reopened two years later.

1993--The pier reopens after a $3.5-million restoration that lasts 13 months.

1994--The pier closes in December after storms knock out pilings. It reopens three months later.

1995--A December storm with 18-foot waves crashes into the pier, shearing off 420 feet.

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Ventura Pier Collapse

The Ventura Pier sustained extensive damage from Tuesday night’s storm. A surge of 18-foot waves washed out the outermost 420 feet of the wooden pier.

Pier Facts:

* How old: 122 years old

* Material: Made of Douglas fir

* renovation: The pier underwent a $3.5-million face lift in 1993 in which its entire decking was replaced. The Douglas fir deck was expected to last up to 50 years. Las spring, the city spent $500,00 in repairs from last January’s storms.

Extent of the Damage:

* Loose pilings swung above the waves from a collapsed 40-foot section at the tip of the pier

* At least 22 horizontal support beams washed away. The beams are spaced 20 feet apart.

* Wood debris washed up throughout Channel Islands Harbor.

* About 420 feet of the pier was destroyed when 18-foot waves hit it. City officials announced that the pier will be rebuilt, but don’t know yet when orhow much it will cost.