Restoration of Malibu Pier Caught Up in Legal Storm

Malibu’s most beloved landmark took a beating 6 1/2 years ago from an ocean storm.

Now it’s a legal storm that is delivering the pounding to the Malibu Pier.

An ugly feud between two partners hired to repair the state-owned, 780-foot wooden structure has halted a $5-million renovation project and forced officials to continue fencing off much of the pier from the public.

One partner has had the other arrested for allegedly interfering with the repair work. The second one has taken out a restraining order against the first for allegedly threatening to kill him.

A Superior Court judge has ordered that about $600,000 in payments for repairs begun in 1999 be placed under the control of an independent receiver until it is determined who should be paid. One of the contractors, meantime, has filed a federal complaint against his partner and others alleging conspiracy, racketeering and “retaliation against a whistle-blower.”

In its 95 years, the Malibu Pier has experienced plenty of drama. But nothing like this.

Commissioned by maverick 19th century businessman Frederick Rindge as a shipping wharf for hides and grains produced on his 17,000-acre Malibu Rancho, the pier has survived both surging waves and benign neglect.

During World War II, it was used as a U.S. Coast Guard station to fight off potential enemy attacks. More recently, it has been the setting for numerous movies--including the 1989 TV film “Panic at Malibu Pier,” which was the pilot for the “Baywatch” television series.

With its trademark twin tower-like clapboard buildings on its end and its distinctive, mission tile-topped Alice’s Restaurant at its front, the pier was Malibu’s top tourist attraction until the January 1995 storm forced its closure.

State parks officials are now waiting for a Wednesday court hearing to find out who should get paid for the project’s first phase. If that part of the dispute is settled, parks administrators hope to resume restoration work on Sept. 17--this time with a new contractor.

Disbursement of the cash is unlikely to settle the fight between contractors Bruce Darian and Ronald Federico, however.

Darian of Hermosa Beach has leveled the conspiracy and racketeering allegations against Federico, claiming that repairs made so far have been improperly done. Darian asserts that the squabble has delayed the pier’s complete reopening by years.

Federico of Lakeview Terrace denies Darian’s assertions. He contends that renovations have been expertly done and that the delays are solely Darian’s responsibility.

State officials probably wish both sides had simply jumped off the pier early in the project.

“The completion date has become sort of a moving target, to be frank with you,” said Hayden Sohm, Malibu-area superintendent for the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

“It’s been a total disappointment. A lot of things have been beyond our control. There have been a lot of hurdles. It’s been a real convoluted situation.”

The center section of the pier has been opened for fishing. But large portions remain fenced off, including Alice’s Restaurant, the seafood eatery that used to attract movie stars and surfers, at the pier’s entrance and the dual end-of-the-pier buildings that formerly housed a bait shop and a snack bar.

“It’s not beautiful to look at. I’ve definitely wondered why they don’t get it done,” said David Wideroe, a television marketing executive from Oak Park, who accompanied his brother, Norwegian visitor Alexander Wideroe, next to the pier last month to surf.

New Partners Soon Had a Falling Out

Jerome Von Holland, a machine manufacturer from San Fernando, has fished from it for 25 years.

“It’s a shame. This should be a beautiful spot. Tourists come here and look and they see something that looks like it’s abandoned,” Von Holland said. “They think, ‘Is the California dream dying, or what?’ ”

In Darian’s view, the dream is dead. “By now, there should have been people sitting out here dining and watching surfers and the sunset,” he said, pointing toward Alice’s Restaurant. “There should be music coming from these buildings. This is an international landmark, and people are being cheated as a result of this project not being done.”

Darian, 43, said he has surfed at Surfrider Beach next to the pier for 27 years. After the structure was damaged by the 1995 storm and there was talk two years later of tearing the structure down, Darian built a scale model of the pier and began studying ways to save it.

When the state decided in 1998 to salvage the pier, Darian was hired to do some initial minor repairs. The next year, he teamed up with Federico’s construction firm, Accent Builders, and submitted the winning $657,000 bid for the first phase of the major renovation.

A mutual friend introduced the pair. But by all accounts, it didn’t take long for the new partners to have a falling out. Soon they were arguing over specifications for the project, selection of subcontractors, and the quality of materials and workmanship.

“He made all these demands that he hadn’t made in the beginning,” Federico said of Darian. “You’re talking about a guy who antagonized everybody on the job. He just did everything he could to get in everybody’s way.”

Darian sees it differently. He claims that Federico improperly hired subcontractors and allowed inferior materials--wooden decking and telephone pole-like piles--to be installed on the pier.

Four months into the project, Darian began secretly taping confrontations among him and Federico and others on the job. In early 2000, Darian went to Santa Monica Superior Court alleging that Federico had threatened his life. He obtained a restraining order against Federico.

Darian’s subsequent federal lawsuit contains a transcript of one conversation in which Federico allegedly warned Darian that “my father sent me to break your legs [if you don’t] sign an agreement giving us the authority over the project.” Darian asserts that Federico went on to warn that “you’re going to end up on the ocean floor with cement boots on.”

According to the lawsuit, Federico allegedly warned Darian on another occasion to leave the pier “because I’m going to have gorillas here tomorrow.”

Darian asserts in his lawsuit that inferior protective wrappings were placed on the pier’s pilings and cheap paint was used on railings instead of a marine-grade variety. He says that when he became alarmed that some pilings were leaking the wood-preservative creosote into the ocean, he marked them with large orange Xs.

Partner Denies Making Threats

That prompted his partner to call Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and have Darian arrested for vandalism. Darian spent 30 hours in jail, and the charge was later dismissed.

“He was spray-painting the piles,” Federico said. “Finally, we called the police. They arrested him and took him away,” he added. “There was nothing wrong with them. We cleaned off the paint and put the piles in. They were OK.”

Federico acknowledged telling Darian “to get out of the way” of the pier project. He insisted, however, that the language caught on Darian’s hidden tape recorder was simply hyperbole and that he never really threatened his life.

“I say I’m going to kill my wife three times a week, but I don’t,” Federico said. “No one intended to hurt Bruce. He’d cause aggravation and we’d get mad and he’d tape us.”

Federico said Darian’s actions were particularly offensive because Darian had not put money up front into the pier project. Federico’s company carried the bond required by the state for the contract, he said.

“Bruce wanted to build a Cadillac,” Federico said. “If he couldn’t do it his way, he didn’t want it done.”

Federico insisted that he and Darian would probably have been retained for subsequent phases of the repair project if Darian had not made unwarranted waves. “We had it made,” he said.

State officials have deposited pier-repair payments with court-appointed receiver David Pasternak, a Century City attorney. Pasternak said he plans to ask a Santa Monica Superior Court judge to release the cash--about $580,000--to Federico. Darian said he intends to oppose that.

Darian is acting as his own attorney with the federal lawsuit. Federico has several lawyers representing him and claims the dispute has cost him $150,000 in legal fees so far.

One of his lawyers, John Hunter of Pasadena, suggested Darian is shooting himself in the foot with his allegations. “It’s a joint-venture license. Bruce is implicating himself, you’d think,” Hunter said.

Lawyer Henry Jannol of Century City said Federico has done nothing wrong. “My client has been around a long time in a business that if they had any taint, they wouldn’t last a minute,” he said.

Parks officials, meantime, have hired a new contractor and say they are working on solving parking and traffic requirements for the pier as they await the start of the next phase--renovation of Alice’s Restaurant and the other pier buildings. They hope to wrap up everything and return the pier to its original glory in late fall of 2002.

Scheduling is difficult to predict, however, because of a backlog of park construction projects throughout the state.

Meanwhile, the two adversaries agree on at least one thing: Bruce Darian is enamored with the Malibu Pier.

Said Federico: “He’s a guy who had a dream of being involved in the pier. If he’d set aside his big-shot ego and gone with the flow, everything would have been fine.”

Said Darian: “The pier is the crown jewel of Malibu. It represents Malibu turning from a ranch into a world-famous destination. It deserves to be treated right.”