Pismo Beach Pier to close for its $8.7 million makeover

The Pismo Beach Pier is about to get an $8.7 million makeover.

Construction on the pier officially starts next week, but the city’s public works department has already started preparing, city senior engineer Eric Eldridge said. On Monday, employees removed Sheldon’s Bait Shack and the information kiosk from the pier, placing them on the promenade near the entrance. The city will move the benches and picnic tables off the pier Tuesday, Eldridge said.

“We’re just preparing everything for construction,” he said.

The city will hold a groundbreaking ceremony at 3 p.m. March 14, and the next day, the pier will be completely closed as construction crews start work on the landward side of the pier, at the seawall. The crews will then systematically work their way toward the ocean.

Eldridge said the goal of the first phase of construction is to have the first diamond of the pier back open by the July Fourth weekend. The construction is expected to last 30 months, but Eldridge stressed that the city would try to keep the pier open as much as possible.

“We’re super concerned about the public and we want to get it so the pier can be open for a long time,” Eldridge said. “We’ve just got some hard knocks to get through.”

He said the project is focused on rehabilitating the pier by replacing the original section from 1924, upgrading the electrical lighting and bringing in new deck boards, park benches, drinking fountains and trash cans.

“In the end, the pier’s going to look the exact same,” Eldridge said. “We’re rehabbing and structurally fixing the pier, we’re not changing the classic look of it.”

This story was originally published March 6, 2017 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Pismo Beach Pier to close for its $8.7 million makeover."