The long and costly journey to restore the iconic Oceanside Pier has begun. Earlier in the year, the fire destroyed a small to-go restaurant called Brine Box, a larger, vacant restaurant space and a damaged pier’s deck.
It has been nearly six months since the fire in April which captivated many who love the spot, locals and visitors alike who watched in astonishment as a large black plume of smoke rose over the coastline.
Despite the amount of time that has passed, the westernmost end of the pier appeared to have remained untouched until early October. According to the City of Oceanside’s website, the pier will need to be prepped, then go through a demolition phase, surveyed and, finally, reconstructed.
To begin the process, on Oct. 7 crews worked on adding a new scaffolding to help them build a subfloor underneath the damaged portion of the pier, so that they can catch any falling debris during demolition.
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“They came maybe a couple of weeks ago,” Rodger Magaleud, an Oceanside resident who fishes from the pier often, told NBC 7. “They don’t tell us to move. They only bring materials.”
The process of removing all of the debris will not be a simple one. The crews will continue to build the additional level needed, then by Oct. 21 they should be ready to start demolition on the restaurant structures and deck planking, then move on to remove the existing utilities, the sewer lift station and grease trap.
During the demolition work, the parking lot at the base of the pier will be closed for construction crews and equipment. The city’s website also said the pier may be closed for “short gaps of time” to move heavy equipment, but the undamaged portion, roughly 90% of the pier, should remain open throughout the majority of this phase.
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When it comes to the reconstruction, the city’s website added that they will need to conduct research on the integrity of the remaining portions of the west-end of the pier, then they will have a better perspective on how much work is needed. “The City's Engineering Division is applying for permits from various regulatory agencies to perform the repair, which are expected to take some time to obtain,” the website read.
The overall, start-to-finish reconstruction is likely to take several years and cost roughly $17 million.
