Boardwalk renovation making steady progress
Published 3:15 pm Sunday, November 9, 2025
LONG BEACH — The project to renovate a peninsula landmark is moving along at a solid pace, city officials said last week.
After receiving a briefing earlier that day, Long Beach City Administrator David Glasson said on Nov. 4 that Woodridge Construction, the Snohomish County-based contractor, was “making good progress” on the long-awaited reconstruction of the Long Beach Boardwalk.
The project got underway about four months ago, in July, beginning with the demolition of the boardwalk. The 35-year-old structure has taken a decades-long beating from the area’s coastal weather and climate, and the city for several years sought out state and federal funding to help finance its renovation.
The reconstruction calls 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 35-year-old structure will also be raised in some areas, and a stainless steel water fountain will be installed at the south platform.
Woodridge Construction was the lowest of 12 bidders for the project, coming in at $2.26 million — just shy of $1 million less than what the city’s engineer, Gray & Osborne, estimated the project would cost. The city is using a $2.5 million grant that it was awarded from the U.S. Economic Development Administration in 2022 to pay for the project.
City councilors at their Nov. 6 meeting voted to approve nearly $58,000 in additional expenses for the project after it was determined the contractor could not reuse existing hurricane clips, which are metal connectors with holes for nails or screws that are used to help prevent damage from high winds.
The change order approved by the council also covers the purchase and installation of additional screws to improve the stiffness of the boardwalk’s handrail. It also replaces three 14-foot by 14-foot beams that “were found to have a substantial amount of interior rot upon demolition of the joists and stringers.”
Recent developments include Woodridge installing joists in areas where a piling doesn’t need to be replaced. Glasson said the contractors think the installation of the joists will be finished this month, and that installation of the decking will also begin in November.
The boardwalk has been closed since July 23 and is not expected to reopen in its entirety until the project’s completion; the city and contractor were targeting late March 2026 when work first began — which would be just in time for the annual spring break tourist rush.