‘Civic heart’ of SLO County beach town reopens following $11 million renovation
One-hundred-and-fifty years after it first opened its doors as the Cass Warehouse, the community building now known as Cayucos Landing officially has a new lease on life.
On Monday, Cayucos residents were able to step inside of Cayucos Landing — formerly known as the Cayucos Veterans Memorial Hall — for the first time since 2022 as the building’s grand-reopening got underway, signaling the end of more than $11 million in renovations to bring the community hub up to date.
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 event space 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.
District 2 county Supervisor and Cayucos resident Bruce Gibson said he was excited to finally “throw open the doors of the civic heart of our community” before a crowd of more than 200 attendees who turned out to get a first look at the new Landing.
“I look around here, and I know how many of you have memories made here, who have spent hours here as I have, to whom this is the beating central heart of our beautiful and powerful community,” Gibson said. “You all are extraordinary — extraordinary in your patience for one thing, as we have weathered over nine years of this sacred place being closed — but extraordinary, also in your energy.”
Long road to Cayucos Landing’s reopening
Originally slated to reopen in late 2024, difficulties with construction pushed its opening date back by around a year.
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 county Department of Parks and Recreation director Tanya 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.
Gibson said the structure was lifted around 2-and-a-half feet from where its original foundations sat and reinforced against damage from the nearby Pacific Ocean, making it “ready for the future.”
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.
Cayucos Lions Club president John McGee said he was proud to see his community come out in force to show their appreciation for what the old hall means to them.
“It’s amazing — everything is first class, and the town deserves it,” McGee said. “We’re looking forward to getting this thing booked out and serviced and making some revenue to pay off that bond.”
Greg Bettencourt, a board member of the Cayucos Land Conservancy and a leader of the community movement to have the old Veteran’s Memorial Hall renovated, said he was thankful for Gibson’s support pushing the project forward with the Board of Supervisors.
“I remember vividly the dark days when the hall was closed, and I know in my heart that without Bruce Gibson’s love of Cayucos and skill in making things happen in government, we would not be here today,” Bettencourt said.
Gibson said with the improvements made to the building, it will stand to serve many generations of Cayucos residents into the future.
“As I was thinking about this day, it occurred to me that there are some physical aspects of this hall that very much mirror the civic aspects of those of us who get to live here,” Gibson said. “We are a welcoming community, and you look at this place, which is open to the public, which invites folks — whether it be our residents here, or whether you might be a visitor here — to come and enjoy the extraordinary place in which we live.”
