‘No waves, no glory’
‘Life at ease with an ocean breeze’
‘High tides and good vibes’
These are just a few of the 59 slogan signs that will soon line the Imperial Beach Pier.
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It's all part of a multi-phase project being spearheaded by the Port of San Diego and the city of Imperial Beach to enhance the pier area.
Phase 1 of the project started about a year ago. According to the Port of San Diego, it included fresh paint on the pier’s railing and structures, along with general repairs and the addition of 30 stainless steel fishing rod holders.
Phase 2 kicked off on Tuesday with a news conference in Imperial Beach.
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“That’s where the fun part starts,” Port of San Diego Chairman, Dan Malcolm, said at the news conference.
Malcolm explained that Phase 2 marks the start of construction on the pier to add a handful of items, including a new mid-pier shade structure that doubles as an art piece. Workers will also be replacing portions of the wooden railing with stainless steel cables, adding a historical sign with information about the pier, installing distance markers to show how long the structure is and placing surf destination arrows pointing to spots like Mavericks, which is near Half Moon Bay in Northern California.
“Let’s celebrate the vibe of our community, which is laid-back, said Imperial Beach's mayor-elect, Paloma Aguirre. “We’re the coolest little beach town in America. We’re a surfer town, we’re a tourist town, and we want our pier to reflect that.”
Aguirre and Serge Dedina, the outgoing mayorh, both shared stories of surfing near the pier. Dedina said he's been hanging out on the pier for more than 50 years and is looking forward to the improvements at the iconic spot.
“When we art-ified the pier and put art, integrated with beautiful landscape design, we made this space safer and more user-friendly,” said Dedina, emphasizing that it will become an area even better fit for the community to enjoy.
As for the timeline, the bulk of Phase 2 is expected to begin in the next couple of weeks and be completed within the next six months. During that time, Phase 3 will be in the planning stages; it includes an additional shade structure, among other things.
According to Malcolm, the cost of Phases 1, 2 and 3 is currently expected to be about $4 million, but that could change as progress continues.
As to whether there may be additional phases, Malcolm is keeping an open mind.
“You never stop improving,” Malcolm said. “There are some very conceptual things on the drawing board about expanding the end, maybe adding another restaurant, but in order to do that we would have to re-engineer the end … so that’s a little bit of a bigger project.”
In short, Malcolm said they’re never going to stop improving the area.
