The Disappearing Pier

Day after day, South Laguna residents watched the sun rise and set into the Pacific from the Aliso Pier. People kissed on it, walked dogs on it and contemplated life on it.

But next week, the pier--now largely demolished--will be gone, and county officials are skeptical that it will ever return.

Last year’s El Nino storms dealt the final blow to the concrete pier that has been a recreational landmark and fishing hole for South Laguna residents since 1970.

“In terms of a public recreational need, it needs to come down,” said county Chief Engineer Ken R. Smith. “But as an asset, I regret seeing it go away with nothing on the horizon to replace it.”

Since demolition began last fall, workers have used cranes to disassemble the pier and pull its pilings from the sea floor. The county is seeking federal and state funds to pay for most of the $1.5-million demolition, with the balance coming from the county.

But the estimated $5-million cost of rebuilding has proved too high, especially in the wake of Orange County’s 1994 bankruptcy.

According to county Chief Financial Officer Gary Burton, the desire to rebuild is there--but not the money. “Choices had to be made,” he said, and rebuilding the pier is a low priority.

Among factors in the county’s decision, Burton said, are the need to repay $1 billion in bankruptcy debt, the 1992 diversion of property tax revenue from local governments statewide to the schools, and more recent budgetary changes under Gov. Gray Davis--specifically the deletion of $21 million owed to the county for flood control, due next year.

“If we can’t get money they owe us,” said John W. Sibley, director of county public facilities and resources, “then I’m sure we can’t get money for a new pier.”

Instead, county officials said, they hope to fund the building of a new pier through state grants or private donations. But if and when that will happen is uncertain.

The loss of the pier--with its unusual open-diamond design at the end, which maximized space for fishing--has saddened some.

“It used to be that the beach was different from all the others,” said 14-year-old Nikki Lawrence of Aliso Viejo. “Now it’s just going to be a regular old beach.” Lawrence said she used to fish off the pier using a stick and string.

“I feel like I’ve lost part of my life,” said 87-year-old South Laguna resident Evelyn Kettle, who used to walk on the pier frequently--a doctor-prescribed remedy for symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

For Ian Levinson, 30, the pier was useful in other ways.

“It was a really good place to take a date,” he said. “Now I’ll just have to sit in the sand to watch sunsets.”

But not everyone will miss the pier.

“I say ‘Good riddance,’ ” said Charles Arthur, 80, from a counter seat at nearby Ruby’s restaurant. “I think piers are unnecessary and too costly to maintain. They always go bad.”

*

Indeed, this one had.

Last March, after a series of El Nino storms, the county closed the pier to the public when engineering reports found it unstable. The winter’s heavy rainfall and turbulent surf had damaged the structure--already weakened by earlier storms and the usual heavy surf--despite a $1.2-million refurbishment in 1989.

By last spring, the pier’s concrete had chipped away in some areas, several pilings were cracked and steel reinforcements were rusted and exposed. “It had just taken a beating from the ocean,” Sibley said.

After a unanimous vote by the County Board of Supervisors, demolition began last October.

Even if officials solve the funding hurdle for rebuilding, they wonder if another beach--with gentler surf--would prove a better location.

County Supervisor Tom Wilson said he hopes to keep a pier in his district and will have his office begin researching the feasibility of bringing one back.

“If the interest is there,” he said, “I’ll be instrumental in getting one put up.”

For now, only the arcade-like concession stand and restrooms will remain of the pier’s once-majestic 572 feet.

“We’re sorry to see it go. It was a beautiful pier,” Sibley said.