Informational kiosks and food carts might be on the pier before businesses open.
By Vicky Newman/Special to The Malibu Times
As the dog days of summer continue, a hubbub of construction activity continues at the Malibu Pier, prompting passerby to inquire about what’s going on and when the pier will open.
Responding to repeated inquiries, the operator and owner of the pier this week sought to explain the disarray at the Malibu Pier parking lot.
“We are working to reopen the buildings as quickly as possible,” said Jefferson Wagner, head of Malibu Pier Partners, the group that will manage the pier’s concessions. “We can’t operate the businesses before the state finishes building.”
The saga of the pier’s renovation has been going on for several years now, since it was destroyed in 1995 by El Nino storms. A dispute between contractors delayed renovations, which began in 1999 and is funded collectively by the City of Malibu, the county and the state. The price tag of the restoration is approximately $5.5 million, with the City of Malibu pitching in $700,000.
After the state found a new contractor to finish restoration, a search began for a master concessionaire. Malibu Pier Partners was the sole applicant.
Now in its third stage of reconstruction, and before visitors can do anything more than fish off the pier, parking and wastewater issues have to be resolved by the state, which owns the pier, and Malibu Pier Partners, which is negotiating a 20-year lease with the state to operate the pier.
And, with construction and “visitor serving use” negotiations in the final stages, shopping, dining, and beach rentals are still about year away, Wagner noted.
“We’re moving forward with productive negotiations,” Hayden Sohm, State Parks’ acting superintendent for the Angeles District, said about turning over control of the buildings.
“Everyone wants to know why things aren’t moving along faster, when we’ll be ready for business,” Wagner, longtime owner of the nearby Malibu Zuma Jay surf shop, said. “There are no complications, no hassles. The negotiations are just part of being thorough.”
Also on the table are temporary “visitor serving uses” before control of the buildings is handed to the group. Food carts and informational kiosks are some of the options being discussed, Wagner said.
Malibu Pier Partners plans to have an upscale seafood restaurant in a newly refurbished Alice’s restaurant, casual fare in Surf View Caf, a bait and tackle shop, sports fishing, whale watching tours, a branch of Wagner’s surf shop, a retail shop and the Surfrider Gallery and Museum.
Renowned chef Bradley Ogden ,of the Lark Creek Restaurant Group and a partner in Malibu Pier, is in discussions with the group about developing the restaurants. Most likely, the restaurant’s menu will be fashioned after Lark Creek’s Yankee Pier eatery in Northern California, and will include a raw oyster bar, local produce, and fresh fish from both coasts, and inside and outside dining.
A complete bait and tackle shop run by Phil Campanella of Malibu, sports fishing tours run by Bertram McCann’s Filmboats Inc. are also part of the plan. Another Malibuite, John Mazza, owner of Malibu Surfing Museum, will operate the pier’s museum.
The white, blue-trimmed buildings have been designed to look as they did in the ’40s and ’50s, Wagner noted.
“This is the oceanfront heart of the city,” Wagner said. “We want to keep the pier’s character.”
A blue and white sign that reads, Malibu Sports Fishing Pier; Live Bait & Charter Boats, was erected several months ago.
Campanella, who ran the last bait and tackle business on the pier, says the pier will also be a recreational draw.
“You can sit and look at the ocean, or fish for fun,” Campanella said. “It will be a wonderful place to relax.”
Wagner, who describes himself as the chief operating officer of the pier, is also planning a program for Malibu High School students to get community service credits by staffing the educational kiosks and tours.
A lifelong local surfer, Wagner hopes his work will make everyone happy with the outcome.
“Having local people come up and say, ‘That’s a good job,’ means everything to me,” Wagner said. “I’d rather have a million ‘Atta boys’ than a million dollars.”
Malibu Pier Partners expects to spend $2 million to $3 million to get the pier ready for full use.