{"id":122826,"date":"2026-01-06T23:59:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T23:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/122826\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T23:59:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T23:59:06","slug":"ocean-beach-business-community-hopes-city-replaces-iconic-pier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/122826\/","title":{"rendered":"Ocean Beach business community hopes city replaces iconic pier"},"content":{"rendered":"

OCEAN BEACH \u2013 Opened in 1966 as a free public sport fishing pier, the Ocean Beach Pier<\/a> was permanently closed 57 years later in October 2023, due to its deteriorating condition.<\/p>\n

With the fate of OB Pier in the balance, Times of San Diego conducted a \u201cshout out\u201d to ask business owners and residents to discuss how they\u2019ve been affected by the pier\u2019s closure. We also asked if people felt OB\u2019s unique \u201cvibe\u201d had changed.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what they had to say:<\/p>\n

Wendy Adelstein, owner of The Philosopher\u2019s Stone at 4967 Newport Ave., Suite 5, said there\u2019s no doubt about the impact of the pier\u2019s closure on local business.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalk to any business owner on Newport Avenue, and they\u2019ll tell you sales are down,\u201d she said. \u201cYes, people have less money in their pockets. But without our top tourist attraction, there are even fewer people walking around.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it\u2019s sad watching our pier disintegrate in front of our eyes, knowing that the astronomical cost of the proposed replacement is out of reach,\u201d Adelstein said. \u201cAt this point, I think the OB community would be happy with a scaled-down [pier] version, one with a significantly lower price tag and maybe even utilizing new \u2018blue wave\u2019 technology so the pier could pay for itself over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zack Heinz, co-owner of Mad Much Grilled Cheezer Co. at 4871 Newport Ave., said that the pier\u2019s closure has had minimal effect on his business. \u201cTo be honest, it\u2019s not truly made a difference, though I would like to see it opened again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denny Knox, executive director of Ocean Beach MainStreet Association, said: \u201cWe\u2019re ever hopeful that the OB Pier project will move forward and result in a newly designed pier that will last upwards of 100 years. It represents the singular most important asset in our community. We expect \u00a0that a special maintenance fund will be developed to ensure that we never let such an iconic part of OB fall into disrepair in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the pier\u2019s closure, she says the community\u2019s distinctive vibe remains fully intact. \u201cOB still has such a great vibe as evidenced by the Holiday Parade and the last OB Street Fair,\u201d Knox said.<\/p>\n

Aaron Null, owner of Vervor Design & Shop at 4689 Voltaire St., noted his shop is mostly unaffected by the pier\u2019s closure, given that it is east of the beachfront. Nonetheless, he acknowledged, \u201cThe community sorely misses it being open, and having zero timeline for repair or something to pin our hopes on is really disheartening.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ralph Teyssier, an OB Pier Task Force Group member and the son of Leonard Teyssier<\/a>, the structural engineer who built the pier, said it\u2019s time for local community leaders to \u201cstep up if they really want to see any movement from the administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Retired lifeguard Ed Harris, who was appointed interim District 2 council member from April to December 2014 when Kevin Faulconer became mayor, doubts the pier will ever be replaced.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never expected it to be rebuilt,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you look at local projects like the OB Lifeguard Tower and the playground next to it, the NTC pool proposal,\u00a0and the OB Library, there is a track record.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city is great at making advocates feel good by holding meetings led by consultants who drag out the process and never accomplish the goal,\u201d Harris added. \u201cThey allocate design money to distract those pushing for progress, only to move the money shortly after to other priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ NEXT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OCEAN BEACH \u2013 Opened in 1966 as a free public sport fishing pier, the Ocean Beach Pier was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64354,3101,7749,29451,74,76,75,64355,64356],"class_list":["post-122826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-mad-much-grilled-cheezer-co","tag-ocean-beach","tag-ocean-beach-mainstreet-association","tag-ocean-beach-pier","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-the-philosophers-stone","tag-vervor-design-shop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}