HUNTINGTON BEACH : Pier to Open With 3-Day Celebration

The City Council has officially scheduled the opening of the city’s new pier for July 18 and approved a weekend celebration commemorating the event.

The date was tentatively adopted last month by the committee that is planning the festivities for Pierfest ’92 but required council approval. That came last week. The pier construction is scheduled to be finished June 30, officials said.

The committee is attempting to raise money for a three-day bash that will begin July 17 and run through July 19. Leaders of the group, headed by former City Administrator Paul Cook, are hoping to raise $75,000 for the celebration.

Organizers are scheduling dancers, musicians, street performers and other entertainment. The performances will be held both on the beach and along Main Street, which will be closed to vehicles during the event.

Officials are also hoping to tie the event to the 10-year anniversary of the city’s sister-city relationship with Anjo, Japan. Anjo city officials--who have raised almost $100,000 toward the pier reconstruction--are expected to attend, and dozens of Japanese musicians and dancers are tentatively scheduled to perform during the celebration.

Mayor Jim Silva is scheduled to flip the switch to light the pier for the first time on the night of July 17. The following day, at about 10 a.m., the public will be allowed to walk on the Municipal Pier for the first time since the old structure was closed four years ago.