Every walk out on the Oceanside Pier starts on the white concrete span above The Strand. It rises from bluff-top Pacific Street, crosses the beach-level road, and hands you off to the wooden deck. That concrete went in back in 1927. Saltwater has seeped into it for decades, rusting the steel inside. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that in 2021, a large chunk of interior ceiling landed on a lifeguard administrator's desk.
Out at the other end, the hammerhead that burned in April 2024 has been closed to the public ever since. It gets most of the attention. But as of this week, the burned end is the part of the pier with an insurance check, a hired contractor and a work calendar. The bridge at the shore end is the part still waiting on money.
The closed end now has a contractor and a deadline
About 90 percent of the pier is open, FOX 5 reported via KABC on Oct. 26. The wider hammerhead at the far end is still off limits. Here is how the city got from the fire to this fall's work:
- April 25, 2024. Fire on the hammerhead destroys the vacant former Ruby's restaurant, the Brine Box food kiosk, the safety railing and the deck planking. To keep the fire from spreading toward shore under the pier, city fire crews pull up a 5-foot strip of decking.
- May 22, 2024. The City Council approves rebuilding the hammerhead. The restaurant and kiosk buildings will be rebuilt at the tenant's expense.
- Feb. 18, 2025. Jilk Heavy Construction finishes demolition, removing both buildings and all the burned railing, planks and stringers.
- April 8, 2026. The council approves engineering design for temporary bracing and the permanent restoration.
- Oct. 21, 2026. The council awards Jilk a $273,982 contract to install a temporary cable bracing system. With change orders and project management, the total is capped at $428,982.
City Engineer Brian Thomas told FOX 5 that the 22 cable braces will protect the damaged end through the coming El Niño storm season. They will hold the structure steady until permanent repairs start, and crews expect to install them within weeks. The city's target for finishing is December 2026.
The money for this phase is already in hand. The city's insurance pool, Public Risk Innovation, Solutions and Management, known as PRISM, has advanced $4,709,432 so far. In the same vote, the council made $3,377,182 of it available, which covers the braces and leaves a balance for the remaining restoration. Each future construction contract will still go back to the council. The city's latest estimate for the full fire repair was about $17 million, not counting the rebuilt restaurant or kiosk, according to the Union-Tribune.
Why cables went in before new planks
Only two contractors bid. Jilk bid the cable system the city asked for. Marathon Construction Corporation offered a different plan for $800,727: new timber stringers, new decking and glu-lam "X" braces. That wood would have been untreated so it could arrive quickly, and it would have had to come out again once permanent work began. Marathon estimated three months for the job, which would have run past the city's December target.
So the cables are there to get the hammerhead through one winter. They do not reopen it. The staff report says they will stay in place until permanent restoration begins.
The deck waits on lumber, permits and summer crowds
Permanent work means new deck, railing and lighting on the hammerhead, and lumber is the slow part. "The lumber is going to take a long time to come from the Pacific Northwest," Thomas told the council on Sept. 16, as the Union-Tribune reported. At that point the design was about 50 percent done, and permit applications and lumber orders were in progress, each taking three to six months.
In that same presentation, Thomas said deck and railing replacement would start in spring 2027 and take about eight months, with a break for tourist season from late May to early September. The Oct. 26 FOX 5 report said construction could begin after Labor Day 2027, again lasting about eight months. The October date is the most recent one given, and both versions put the work at about eight months.
The restaurant comes later. OS Pier LLC took over the lease after Ruby's Diner went bankrupt and is still working on designs for a new building, The Coast News reported in September. The city wants the public end open first. "Our goal, at the end of the day, is to open the end of the pier to the public, while the future restaurant is being designed and permitted," Thomas told the Union-Tribune.
There is also a smaller piece of the work. Engraved names were added to the pier for Oceanside's 1988 centennial. The city saved 95 percent of them and is working to restore the ones lost in the fire.
The span every walk starts on is the one still short of money
The hammerhead gets its money from insurance. The Pier View Way bridge has no insurance claim behind it. It is simply old. A 2018 consultant study found it did not meet current seismic and structural standards. The city said it was safe for pedestrians but needed a full retrofit. The bridge is the only way onto the pier. A ramp also climbs to it from The Strand, and the building under its deck, once a public dining hall, now houses the city's lifeguard headquarters.
On Sept. 16, the City Council unanimously certified the environmental impact report for rebuilding the bridge and the lifeguard headquarters, The Coast News reported. The project was first estimated at about $27 million. Extra technical studies, investigations, permitting and support services have since pushed it to $82 million.
| Hammerhead at the far end | Pier View Way bridge at the shore end | |
|---|---|---|
| What's wrong | Fire damage, April 2024 | Saltwater corrosion in 1927 concrete |
| Funding source | PRISM insurance pool | City funds, a $2 million federal grant, grant applications |
| Money committed so far | $4.7 million in insurance advances received | $12 million set aside, after about $9.7 million spent on planning |
| Estimated cost | About $17 million, not counting the restaurant | About $82 million |
| Next step | Cable braces, target December 2026 | Permits, then construction funding |
Rep. Mike Levin secured the $2 million in federal funding, part of lobbying the city has done every year since 2017. The big pots of road money are closed to this project. "Grant funding opportunities continue to be challenging because the concrete portion of the bridge does not carry vehicular traffic," Thomas said, so Caltrans and Federal Highway Administration grants are out. The city is looking at Proposition 4, the parks and climate-adaptation bond California voters passed in 2024.
That leaves the bridge in a bind. Most grant programs only fund projects that are close to ready to build. Permits are needed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Regional Water Quality Control Board and the California Coastal Commission. Thomas estimated it could take "roughly 18 months" to finalize the project. "Until we can get permitting, they're not going to even look at the project," he said.
The plan that came out of community meetings is to tear down the bridge and build a longer-lasting one that looks much like it does now. "This is a very critical project for the city of Oceanside," said Mayor Esther Sanchez. Until then, crews are patching the worst spots and hanging safety netting underneath.
Down on The Strand this month
The same environmental report also covers replacing the Junior Seau Pier Amphitheater and Bandshell and upgrading the Junior Seau Beach Community Center. That puts the pier, its bridge and the stage below them in a single long-range plan. For now, the usual routines around the foot of the pier carry on:
- Morning Farmers Market, run by MainStreet Oceanside, Thursdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., all year.
- Sunset Market, Thursdays 5 to 9 p.m., on Pier View Way west of Freeman Street and across Coast Highway, with up to 240 booths. Free parking is available at the Civic Center Parking Structure at 300 N. Coast Hwy. Thanksgiving is Thursday, Nov. 26, so check MainStreet Oceanside before you head down that day.
- The 20th annual O'side Turkey Trot on Nov. 26 starts on Coast Highway and finishes behind the amphitheater on The Strand. It benefits the Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank and North County schools and nonprofits.
- The mid-pier bait shop, which Visit Oceanside lists with rod rentals, tackle, bait and snacks. It sits on the open stretch of the pier.
- The Holiday Tree Lighting at the Sunset Market on Dec. 3, followed by Holiday Gift Markets on Dec. 3, 10 and 17.
The Turkey Trot finish line and the Thursday market crowds are both right below the concrete bridge that is still waiting on about $60 million.
At Renovation Realty, we run repair projects that move in the same order: money first, then permits, then materials, then crews. If you're settling an estate or getting an Oceanside home ready to sell, we can map out that sequence for your property and cover the renovation cost until closing. Book a Free Home Evaluation and we'll walk you through it.
