Laguna Beach completes $1.4-million renovation of Main Beach Park

Laguna Beach has wrapped up work to renovate Main Beach Park, an oceanfront public gathering space known as the town’s “window to the sea.”

The $1.4-million project saw the city make improvements aimed at enhancing accessibility and improving the drainage and irrigation systems.

The work also resulted in new sidewalks, refreshed landscaping and upgraded furnishings. Those additions included benches, drinking fountains, lighting and trash receptacles.

City officials said there was $192,000 in state grant funding put toward the project, which allowed it to come in under budget.

The renovation project drew the attention of residents earlier in the spring, when the area was fenced off due to the construction equipment on the site.

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Laguna’s Main Beach Park renovations expected to be completed in May

The renovations began earlier this year and include maintenance work for irrigation, landscaping, lighting systems, park benches and sidewalks.

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“Main Beach is an iconic part of the Laguna Beach experience,” Mayor Alex Rounaghi said in a text on Friday. “It wasn’t always a park — this area was once filled with buildings and gas stations until residents rallied for public open space. After two failed bond measures, that vision became reality in 1974, and the bonds were later paid off through Festival of Arts lease payments. This latest upgrade builds on that legacy.”

New plants were among the improvements at Main Beach in Laguna Beach.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

A day after a lightning storm resulted in a brief closure of the city’s beaches, Laguna Beach leaders and local dignitaries gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of the work on Wednesday.

“I spent many Saturdays here as a kid,” Rounaghi added. “So it’s great to see the improvements delivered on time and under budget — just in time for summer.”