NEWPORT BEACH -- The city's two piers may soon undergo the biggest
upgrades in their 60-year lives -- work that will close each pier for
about two months early next year.
The council is expected to approve a $2.7-million contract with the
John S. Meek Co. that will add about 20 years to the piers' lives and
include a number of changes to beautify the aging icons.
If the work gets the council's OK, Balboa Pier will probably be closed
during January and February. Ruby's restaurant on the pier will close
during that time. Newport Pier is expected to close during February and
March, and with it Newport Pier Seafood will also likely close.
New signs, gates and a new wooden handrail to replace the rusting pipe
rail will be some of the visible improvements.
But the most striking new feature will be smooth concrete replacing
the existing wooden surface over both piers.
"Our goals are to make the piers more attractive to the public, to
extend the life and increase their load-carrying captivity," said Lloyd
Dalton, an engineer for the city's Public Works Department. "We're going
to make them look like new again."
Dalton said the concrete addition will make the piers friendlier to
wheelchairs and strollers while also strengthening the surface. Pipes
that carry electricity, gas and water to the piers and their restaurants
will be moved out of sight into a trench in the pier.
He added that the city worked with managers of the piers' two
restaurants, timing the work with the businesses' slowest months.
Councilman Tod Ridgeway said he expects that the restaurants won't
have to pay rent to the city while the piers are closed.
But Michael Yu, manager of Newport Pier Seafood, said he's worried
about how the closure will affect his business and employees.
"I hope it's not going to take too long," Yu said, adding that the
restaurant averages about $50,000 a month in January, February and March.
He said about 30 employees will be out of work while the pier is closed.
Ridgeway said the city will help the restaurants as much as possible.
"Our piers are used mostly by tourists, so this work will be of the
biggest benefit to the tourist trade and those businesses," Ridgeway
said. "We'll mitigate the restaurants' loss to the best of our ability."
Locals who fish off the piers every day are likely to be affected
most. Ridgeway said many will likely go to the Huntington Beach Pier
during that time.
Money for the renovation will come mainly from a lawsuit settled three
