Huntington City Beach renovations put on hold

Kenneth Ma

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Renovations on a busy section of Huntington City

Beach have been delayed until late November because of changes made to

the plans.

The $6.5-million renovation project, dubbed South Beach Phase I, was

originally scheduled to begin after Labor Day, with a completion date of

summer 2001, said Ron Hagan, the city’s community services director. But

modifications to the plan will push the start back two months, with a

completion date revised to fall 2001.

“While we are running behind a couple of months, [the delay] will

ensure a project that is more likely to come [within our] budget,” he

said.

The delays are three-fold, Hagan said.

The city took longer to make a decision on the Surf Circle art for the

corner of Beach Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway, he said. Also,

Caltrans and the Orange County Sanitation District wanted to make changes

to the pedestrian bridge that will link the beach to the Waterfront

Hilton Beach Resort to accommodate a sewer line, and the Waterfront

Hilton made plans to remodel its concession stand on the beach to

coincide with improvements of the South Beach Phase I project, he added.

The entire project, which will be done in two phases in an area of

city beach between Beach Boulevard and Huntington Street, marks the first

time renovation work has been done there in 30 years.

The improvements include updating the parking lot, replacing restrooms

and showers, and creating two art displays.

In addition, the project will also include the creation of the

much-debated Surf Circle art piece, a collection of 18-foot stones shaped

like surfboards, reminiscent of England’s Stonehenge. The artwork will

stand on the corner of Beach Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway.

In June, the City Council selected the stone surfboard project after

rejecting a controversial sculpture of whale bones designed to be a

cluster of tusklike concrete pillars made to represent a whale

skeleton.Waterfront Hilton officials also plan to build a pedestrian

bridge across Pacific Coast Highway to connect the beach to their

hotel.Money for the South Beach Phase I project will come from the nearly

$19 million in bonds the city is selling in the financial markets and

settlement money from the American Trader oil spill that occurred in

1989.

“They [the public] are going to be able to see a difference in the

area,” said David Dominguez, the city’s senior supervisor of recreation

and development. The improvements “will make things more aesthetically

pleasing.”

Although there will be inconveniences to the public during

construction, Dominguez said the city plans to minimize the adverse

affects by creating a temporary multipurpose trail and renovating the

parking lot in two phases.

Mike Ali, owner of Zack Pier Plaza, said the inconvenience is worth

the sacrifice to have better facilities.

The project has been a result of “eight years of waiting,” said Ali,

who also operates a concession stand in the project area. “Change is

good.”

Ali said the improvements will attract more visitors to the beach and

help improve his business.

In addition to the South Beach Phase I project, two other

beach-related projects are scheduled to begin soon. A beach services

center -- a 14,000-square-foot, $500,000 facility -- will be used as a

headquarters to organize and operate special events, such as volleyball

and surfing tournaments. The facility will also have restrooms, office

space and a substation for the Huntington Beach Police Department. The

center will be built near the Huntington Beach Pier at the site of a

former Junior Lifeguard building. Money for the project will come from

revenue from city-leased pier concessions. The project is expected to

begin in early October and be completed by November 2001.

Also, a $2.2-million beach maintenance facility on 1.5 acres on Edison

Way behind the AES Power Plant will house and provide space to maintain

city trucks, sand rake tractors and trailers, and lifeguard trucks. Money

for the project will come from financial bonds and the Waterfront Hilton,

which paid the city $750,000 to be able to build the Ocean Grand Coast

Resort expansion in the maintenance facility’s original site.

Construction of the facility is expected to begin in November and be

completed about a year later.

QUESTION

ARE THEY NEEDED?

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