SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) — The Ocean Beach pier was packed with people on Saturday – it’s the first weekend the iconic spot has been open in more than a year.
It had been closed for repairs since January of 2021 when high surf battered its infrastructure and damaged parts of the railing. Crews began working on the 55-year-old pier in late December.
Visitors and businesses shared with 10News they are thrilled to have it open again.
“We’ve actually been coming a lot and it was always closed. We were always bummed out, but now it’s all fixed. We’re excited,” said Alexis Velarde, who came to fish off the pier’s end.
The cafe on the pier was filled with customers as well.
“For sure we were affected. A lot of our business did go away,” said Jason Peres, a server at the restaurant. Peres says their cafe along with other Ocean Beach businesses is thrilled the pier is bringing back beach-goers and foot traffic.
“It feels way back to normal. Just like how it used to be,” he said.
While the pier is open and repaired for now, a city report from last year showed the pier might ultimately need to be torn down and rebuilt. That could cost the city upwards of $40 million dollars.
