One of San Diego's most iconic, most photographed, most loved spots is largely closed to the public.
Pedestrians on Crystal Pier, at the foot of Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach, hoping to walk the 475 feet to the end of the structure are now blocked by a small white picket fence just past the cottages on the pier.
San Diego's Troubled Piers
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To the south, the Ocean Beach Pier is also closed. The 56-year-old landmark, which is one of the longest piers on the West Coast, has been closed to the public since January, when high surf stripped the pier, which goes out nearly 2,000 feet, of some wood railings during a series of winter storms. The city has yet to issue an estimate when the concrete and rebar pier might be reopened.
Meanwhile, the wooden structure in Pacific Beach, which is approaching its centennial in 2027, has been closed since at least April 8, when an NBC 7 employee walked by and snapped photos of the picket fence.
NBC 7 reached out to the city of San Diego for more information and was told that the proprietors of the Crystal Pier Hotel, the owner of a section of the pier near shore where the cottages are, noticed some storm damage to the outer one-third of its length, which the city owns. The city said it believes it's safe for visitors to the cottages.
"The hotel controls access to the pier via its property, so it has closed the pier to public access for the public section of the pier as a safety precaution," city spokesman Benny Cartwright told NBC 7 in an email this week.
Cartwright said San Diego had hired a consultant to examine the portion of the pier the city owns and to determine what repairs were needed.
One of the owners of that hotel, Willis Allen, told NBC 7 in an email that he made the decision to close the end of the pier for safety reasons after seeing that it was damaged by repeated storms and large swells.
Sadly, there is no estimate for a timetable for the reopening of Crystal Pier.
Pier Visitors
Visitors sorely missed being able to enjoy the pier on Sunday.
“The first time I had been here was yesterday actually. It didn’t really take away from the vastness of the experience," said newly-moved resident Jacinda Abdul-Mutakabbir. "I was like, ‘oh ok whatever, we’ll just turn back around.'”
Jack Zabawa has lived in the area for decades and enjoys taking drone images of the pier.
“We do love the pier and it’s a great thing to come down here and the scenery is awesome. You can watch the surfers all day long," Zabawa said.
“Every time we have family and friends who are visiting or whatever we like to walk ‘em out and hang out at the end of the pier and we go down and snap photos," Zabawa added.
Karyl Miller said she visits often, and years ago was a minister who would perform weddings on the end of the pier.
“You know, we’ll get to see it in a week when it reopens, but people who came here for a holidays, I’m sure they’re very disappointed and rightfully so," Miller said.
Alyssa Fackler grew up coming to the pier since she was 6-years-old.
“It’s definitely strange. I think, you know, really like personally I love to walk down to the end. Its just so peaceful and I feel like it kind of takes away from the experience to not be able to do the whole thing," Fackler said.
There is a third pier within the confines of the city of San Diego, the Elle Browning Scripps Memorial Pier, which is part of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. NBC 7 has a request in to Scripps for an update on the condition of that pier. Another pier, this one in Oceanside, is undergoing repairs now, with the city spending $5.5 million this year to upgrade pipes and parts that are nearing their age limits.
