Damaged and closed since 1995, the final stage of restoration will be completed by next summer.
By Michelle Willer-Allred/ Special to The Malibu Times
The California Coastal Commission on Thursday approved the final stage of a plan to restore the Malibu pier back to its original state by restoring four buildings and the entryway on the pier.
The pier, a 95-year-old city landmark that has been out of operation since 1995 because of funding problems to fix the storm-damaged structure, is expected to reopen to the public by next summer if all goes as planned by the California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR).
Stage three, the final stage, included an amended plan by the DPR to provide 96 parking spaces near the pier for patrons of the restaurant and sports fishing operations at the site.
The Coastal Commission approved the plan with conditions that the Department of Parks and Recreation include directions by signs to alternative parking near the site, provide an erosion control and pollution runoff plan, and have the sewage plan certified by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
In addition, the commission is requiring that access to the end of the pier must be made available to visitors since the current plan has an outdoor dining area in the way.
The commission is also allowing 700-square feet of outdoor exterior dining for patrons of the restaurant, and will allow an additional 50-square feet of exterior dining for every additional parking space that is provided at the site.
When completed, the pier is expected to include a restaurant, bait and tackle store, and a sports equipment rental store. Also included at the pier will be a sports fishing operation, which will allow 30 passengers and five crew members to depart on a boat from the pier two times a day.
Hayden Sohm, Malibu sector superintendent for the California Department of Parks and Recreation, said plans are currently being discussed with the contractor, and that construction on the final phase of the pier restoration project could begin as soon as this September.
“This is a highly anticipated project, and (the California Department of Parks and Recreation) think that the decision by the commission is an extremely positive one to reopen the historic pier,” Sohm said.
The pier was originally built in 1905 as part of the private domain of Malibu rancher Frederick Hastings Rindge. Nearly destroyed by a storm in 1942, the pier was rebuilt in 1944 and served as a U.S. Coast Guard station during wartime. It was wave-battered and neglected when the state took it over as a recreational site in 1980.
The popular Alice’s Restaurant once graced the land end of the pier, which was also a popular sports fishing site and was used as a backdrop in numerous films, until another storm severely damaged it again in 1995 and shut it down to the public.
In 1997, the state turned over the pier to the City of Malibu on condition the city find a way to fix and maintain the structure. The city didn’t have the funds, so it returned the structure back to the state.
A final completion date was originally scheduled for September 2002, but permit issues and problems with traffic flow and parking delayed the project completion. Also, the Coastal Commission was unable to hear Phase three of the plan because of its large workload.