Officials Weighing Fate of Decaying Landmark Pier

With plans to reopen damaged Kanan Dume Road underway, city officials hope to turn their attention to shoring up--or tearing down--the decaying, closed Malibu Pier before the anticipated heavy storms of El Nino reach the structure

Malibu Mayor Jeff Jennings said Wednesday that the city has, in effect, agreed to lease the pier from the state. With Malibu as the lease holder, Jennings said, county funds would be available to help pay for renovation of the landmark.

But until an agreement for funding has been made with the county, plans cannot be finalized, he said.

Some preliminary studies indicate that it would be less expensive in the long run to demolish the structure and build a new one than to keep repairing the existing pier, Jennings said. No decisions have been made in the matter.

“We feel a certain amount of urgency about getting this project underway because of the uncertainty about what will happen if we get a combination of high seas and heavy rain,” Jennings said.

He added that a storm could wash pieces of the weakened pier onto beaches or into beachfront homes, creating a safety hazard.

“We’re worried about where it [the pier] might end up,” Jennings said.