Renovations nearly complete on historic SLO County veteran’s hall. See inside
A Cayucos landmark that’s been inaccessible to the public for the past decade is gearing up to reopen its doors to the public later this year — and it’s returning better than ever.
The Cayucos Veteran’s Memorial Hall, also known as Cayucos Landing, has been fully closed since 2016, but more than $11 million later, it’s nearly ready to host events again — including Cayucos’ 150th birthday bash.
Tracing its origins back to around 1875, when it opened as the Cass Warehouse at Cayucos Landing, the building has worn plenty of hats across its 150-year history, with the state of California purchasing the property in 1920, according to the venue’s website.
The main part of the building closed in May 2016 due to unsafe conditions and structural issues discovered during routine maintenance and was fully closed in 2022 for repairs.
Originally slated to reopen in late 2024, difficulties with construction pushed its opening date back by around a year.
Now, with just a handful of months of construction work left to go, Cayucos Landing is getting ready to serve its community full-time, San Luis Obispo County Department of Parks and Recreation director Tanya Richardson said.
“We are very excited about this project and having it coming to fruition after a long pause,” Richardson said.
Needed upgrades open up more event spaces
While the old Veterans Hall was still a serviceable structure for hosting groups such as the Lions Club or shared senior meals, it lacked many accessibility features and additional spaces that could honor Cayucos’ history, according to Richardson.
Now, the Veterans Hall is overflowing with new meeting spaces for the community to share, including new dedicated spaces for exhibits from the Cayucos Historical Society and local artists, rooms that can be individually locked off to host multiple events concurrently and a fully new kitchen, Richardson said.
On the outside, new accessible ramps have been added to the building, including a new boardwalk connecting the Cayucos Pier to the beach via a northern accessible entrance.
Behind the building, an open patio featuring a communal barbecue pit was constructed, along with a new accessible bathroom.
Richardson said these upgrades will make it possible for Cayucos Landing to host more events for the community than ever, with each room — be that the main event hall, galleries or smaller dining room — able to be locked off from the rest so that multiple events can run at the same time.
“Part of the idea of this is, as you know, we have a bond payment that we have to make, and so that’s maximizing the capacity of rental spaces as well as working with the community to give them spaces as well,” Richardson said.
Events at the new Cayucos Landing aren’t expected to get underway until later this year, but fees for renting some or all of the hall will be published on the county Department of Parks and Recreation’s website, Richardson said.
Cayucos Advisory Council president Carol Kramer said the upgraded kitchen is one of the parts of the renovations that she’s looking forward to seeing most.
Kramer added that while its been a long decade since the community had access to Cayucos Landing, the upgrades will be worth it for the Cayucos groups who need quality event spaces.
“The kitchen is fabulous,” Kramer said. “We’re going to be able to have really nice community events, and that’s what’s important to this community.”
Richardson said in the coming months, Cayucos Landing will start hosting some community events to test the new facility’s capacities before its soft opening in September.
Cayucos Chamber of Commerce public relations manager Alicia Van Fleet said a celebration of the 150th anniversary of Cayucos’ founding will be held Sept. 19-21 as the community’s first opportunity to see inside the new space for themselves.
A ribbon-cutting event will also be held in August, Richardson said.
Richardson said Cayucos Landing should be fully up and running in October, depending on how long final construction elements take.
Cayucos Lions Club president John McGee said he was glad to see the building’s historical look preserved in the renovation, along with needed upgrades.
“This is just something that you know, it had to happen,” McGee said. “The alternative would be we’d lose this landmark building.”
