Buoyant at the boardwalk: LB celebrates reopening of local landmark

Published 4:07 pm Sunday, April 12, 2026

LONG BEACH — Number of deck screws: 121,920. Miles of wood: 23. Tons of wood and hardware: 122.

Those were some of the stats rattled off by Long Beach City Administrator David Glasson last Friday about the extensive work on the city’s boardwalk by construction crews since last summer. The April 10 reopening of the local icon was marked by a ribbon cutting ceremony and celebration at the Bolstad beach approach.

The reconstruction of the boardwalk, which had not undergone major work since it was built in 1990, began last July and wrapped up in March. After being worn down by the peninsula’s coastal weather and climate for 35 years, the project called for the replacement of all of the boardwalk’s decking, as well as basically everything else above the piling — including the railings, and the lighting on the east railings. The structure was also raised in some areas.

The renovation was completed by Woodridge Construction. The Snohomish County-based contractor had the lowest bid of more than a dozen companies interested in the project, at $2.26 million — about $900,000 less than what the city’s engineering firm estimated the project would cost, representing significant savings for Long Beach. Additional costs since then brought the total to about $2.5 million.

The city used a $2.5 million grant that it was awarded from the U.S. Economic Development Administration in 2022 to pay for the project. Long Beach had previously spent several years trying to secure state or federal funding to reconstruct the boardwalk.

Foes turned to fans

Glasson, who began working for the city in 1989, a year before the boardwalk was christened, recalled the amount of effort that was required to build the original structure. The estimated cost was $400,000 — “which was really a lot of money” at the time — and Long Beach began applying for grants.

Long Beach eventually received roughly $200,000 in state funding that had originally been slated for the City of Leavenworth — for which Glasson said he’s always had a soft spot for the Central Washington city — and took out a 10-year loan from the Bank of the Pacific to cover the remaining cost. The city also received a legislative assist from state Sen. Sid Snyder after the state auditor’s office asserted Long Beach couldn’t use lodging tax funds on the project.

Local support for the boardwalk wasn’t robust initially, Glasson said, recalling when the contractor for the project hit the arch with their crane. Further complaints piled up as work began, with those opposed arguing that it looked like a cattle crossing and would ruin the beach experience.

“I remember literal tears in the council chambers of people who thought this was the worst project in the world and we’ve got to stop it,” he added. “It’s fun now, though, because those same people are the ones who’ve used it for the last 35 years.”

Once completed, however, Glasson said the boardwalk changed the minds of its detractors “and the trajectory of Long Beach. We were 1776036548 on our way to becoming a destination…any project that benefits tourism also benefits us.”

Mayoral and staff success

Svendsen credited former Mayor Jerry Phillips for his dogged pursuit of outside funding to make the project a reality.

“This is Jerry’s project… and I’m sure he’s pretty psyched,” Svendsen said at the reopening. Glasson said Phillips “kept at it,” even as cost estimates for the reconstruction soared during his years in office.

Phillips, who was also in attendance and addressed those gathered, said it’s been a long journey seeing the reconstruction of the boardwalk finally come to fruition. It’s an amenity that has benefited both visitors and locals alike, he added, and is poised to do so for many more years because of this project.

“It’s just a great day for me to see this happen,” Phillips concluded.

Svendsen, Phillips and Glasson also heaped praise on Ariel Smith, the city’s deputy administrator, for her persistence in working to secure grant funding for the project while also maneuvering administrative headaches.

“She’s the one that really did a lot of work on the administrative and legislative stuff,” Phillips noted.

Smith, Svendsen said, had been joking that the new boardwalk needed to be christened the same way a new ship is — with smashing a bottle of champagne across its bow.

“She was kind of kidding, and I took it seriously,” Svendsen said, adding that it’s both the beginning of a new voyage for Long Beach while simultaneously the end of a long one for Smith.

And while it may have taken a few more swings over the boardwalk’s railing than she expected, she indeed had her long-awaited day of jubilee.