When will beloved SLO County pier fully reopen after winter storm damage? ‘It’s an icon’

A project began in earnest Monday to repair the now mostly unsupported final “bent” or seaward end of the Cayucos Pier, which has been closed since it was damaged in late February storms.

Engineers and divers from Richard Brady & Associates of San Diego have spent days doing tests and checking conditions on the pier’s deck, in the ocean waters and at the sea floor.

Those $71,085 scientific studies are the first of many steps ahead toward ultimately fixing and reopening the full length of the iconic, nearly 1,000-foot structure, according to Shaun Cooper, assistant director of the county’s parks department.

“We only know what we can see above the water,” Cooper said. “Basically for the width of the pier, the deck is suspended in mid-air, because support of the end of the pier is gone.”

He estimated it would take a week to get a draft report, with the final due by mid-August.

Money for the recent inspections came from funds raised earlier by the community, he said, adding that the county and pier enthusiasts will have to find money to pay for the rest of the work, which includes designing the repair project, doing environmental studies and getting approvals on various permits. That money could be in the form of grants, donations and other funds.

Winter storms undermined about 60 feet of the seaward end of the 20-foot-wide pier when wave-carried heavy debris battered into the pilings supporting the deck. Most of those pilings washed ashore. A portion of the deck also broke away.

The damage left the pier drooping and wobbly, minus quite a few support pilings, a batter piling and part of the upper railing.

The entire pier was fenced off for a time, until engineers determined that the majority of the structure was safe.

The pier had already been completely renovated and rebuilt from 2013 to 2015, with the community chipping in to help pay for that $3.5 million project, too.

Meanwhile, a massive project next door is rebuilding a redesigned Cayucos Vets Hall that’s been called “the heart of Cayucos.”

How is pier closure impacting visitors, businesses?

The repairs are important for many reasons, Cooper said.

“It’s a community landmark, a great recreational and tourism facility for looking out over the ocean, watching sea life, fishing, walking,” he said. “It’s an icon for the character of Cayucos and a great recreational and tourism facility.”

About lunchtime Wednesday, most visitors strolling along the pier’s open stretch — the majority of the structure — said when asked that it didn’t matter to them that the ocean end of the pier was blocked off.

“You can still walk out and see the vistas, so it’s still pleasurable,” Kim Judge, of Valencia, said. She said she loves the pier and Cayucos, and she and her family have visited both regularly for many decades.

Judge said with a chuckle that the closure “probably matters most to the kids who want to jump off the end when they’re not supposed to do that.”

Businesses, too, appear to have weathered the closure well.

“We’ve had no effect from it,” Duckie’s Chowder House owner Chris Dorn said. “People are already here or coming here. You can still fish. You can still use nearly all of the pier.”

He added the pier “was closed completely before, which was much worse” for business.

A few tourists said, they’d obviously prefer that the pier be open all the way, but, like Don Patzkowski of Fresno, they were glad to learn that repairs are ahead for the iconic structure in a beach community recently lauded by AAA as “California’s coolest beach town.”

“It’s all about safety,” Patzkowski said of the closure.

Son Grayson Patzkowski said he’ll be glad when it reopens because he likes to spend 10 or 15 minutes at the end, “just looking at the scenery.”

The closure didn’t diminish their love for Cayucos, according to mom Barbara Patzkowski.

“It’s so casual and relaxing here,” she said.

Members of the Agekian family of Los Angeles were a bit wistful about the closure.

“I would love to go to the end,” young Nareh Agekian said, while her mom Susan said, “I’ll be glad when the end of the pier opens up again.”

“I like it when you can stand there,” she said. “You feel like you’re flying over the ocean.”