The Hermosa Beach Pier Is Getting Temporary Fixes While Pier Plaza Gets the Permanent Ones

"We're either going to build a new one or tear it down and not have one," Councilmember Rob Saemann said at the September 22 City Council meeting. He was explaining why the pier's handrail, which he said "isn't going to be here for 10 years, one way or another," is still a reasonable new home for the Surfers Walk of Fame. The council approved that move 4-1. In doing so, it acted on something the city's own documents have said for months. Hermosa is now planning around a pier it calls temporary, and the conversation about anything permanent keeps moving toward Pier Plaza.

That one idea explains almost every change residents will see at the west end of Pier Avenue between now and spring.

Why the Plaques Are Leaving the Deck

The Surfers Walk of Fame began in 2003 as the South Bay's answer to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It has 106 inductees. Only 60 bronze plaques, each 15 by 12 inches, were ever set into the deck. Six of those are now missing or were never installed. City staff had to take some out because of damage and tripping hazards. Installations stopped in 2020, partly over concerns about how embedded plaques affect the structure, so no surfer inducted since then has a plaque at all.

"The plaque surfaces are quickly deteriorating," Senior Recreation Supervisor Brian Sousa told the council, "and many have become unreadable." Staff's reasoning went beyond looks. Pulling the plaques lets crews fill and repair those spots and slows further wear on the deck panels.

The replacements will be marine-grade stainless steel, mounted on top of the railings and grouped by induction year. The work is already budgeted at $12,000 to $16,000 and is expected to be done by the end of the year. The city will offer the old bronze plaques to inductees and their families. Any that go unclaimed will be offered to the Hermosa Beach Museum.

Councilmember Michael Keegan cast the one no vote. He worried that stainless steel would be easy to deface and said he would rather work on "a permanent solution along the Pier Plaza." The staff report floated one version of that idea. It described a statue or monument to Greg Noll, the longboard shaper who was among the original 2003 inductees. Possible sites include the west end of the plaza where it meets the Strand, or near Loreto Plaza. Inductee names would be etched into the pedestal or added on nameplates each year. The council also directed staff to work toward an agreement that would support private fundraising for a permanent location.

The Repair Window Opens, on Paper

The plaques have to move because repairs are coming. Crews have to work on the same deck panels the plaques sit in, and the city's paperwork says so. The Notice of Exemption filed in March lists "connection repairs to pier amenities such as plaques and benches" right next to the structural work.

The scope is modest compared with the pier's problems:

• Replace four concrete deck panels.
• Repair and strengthen 14 more.
• Inject cracks and patch spalled concrete across roughly a third of the deck.

The environmental memo planned for construction to start in October 2026 and continue through winter and spring, with no work between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Work is to stay inside designated zones along the pier, causing "temporary and localized closures only," and the memo calls for no nighttime construction. The city has said the pier will stay open for ocean viewing and fishing during the work.

That October start was a forecast. As of the city's October 5 update, the project page for CIP 623 still lists its status as "Final Design and Permitting." No contractor or award had been announced in the sources reviewed for this post. The FY 2026-27 budget for the project is $3,700,010. The same page calls this an initial round. It says the remaining repairs from the 2025 structural inspection will be a separate project running from FY 2027-28 through FY 2029-30.

Even after all of that, the staff report expects the pier to need "reinspection and repair every five years for the foreseeable future."

The Deadline Behind the Repairs

The repairs are needed by 2027. Public Works Director Joe SanClemente told commissioners in May that the pier is "in poor to serious condition." If the work isn't done by then, he said, "we are going to have to do additional inspections and face closure of the pier."

The bigger decision comes on a separate clock. SanClemente estimated that a replacement pier would need six to eight years for permits. That's why the city has said it needs council direction by the end of 2026 for a 2032 groundbreaking. Waiting until 2030 would push groundbreaking to 2036. "We need a decision by the end of 2026," he said, "otherwise we're locked in to another $4 million for improvements by 2030."

The current pier opened in 1965. It replaced a 1913 concrete pier, and the first wooden pier went up in 1904. Here are the key numbers and dates in one place:

The two repair-cost figures come from different reports, and neither outlet reconciled them. The replacement estimate also leaves out financing, which staff said could equal the construction cost. Money is the real constraint. Administrative Services Director Brandon Walker told commissioners the city needs $8 million to $12 million a year for basic infrastructure repair citywide but replenishes the General Fund at $4 million to $6 million. At a March meeting, one resident suggested a 30-year bond, estimated at $515 per property per year. Saemann raised the idea of a restaurant or attraction on the pier. Neither has been adopted. At the federal level, the proposed Piers Reinvestment Act would let cities like Hermosa apply for pier repair grants if it passes. Under current rules, SanClemente said, they can't.

The city calendar shows a Public Works Commission meeting on November 18 and City Council meetings on December 3 and December 8. If the end-of-2026 target holds, the December meetings are the ones to watch.

The Land End Is Filling In

While the pier waits on decisions about money, the blocks leading to it have been adding businesses. Los Angeles Ale Works was open by late May at 1200 Hermosa Ave., in the former Rok Sushi space. The city has since installed seven branded bike racks at the northeast corner of Hermosa and Pier avenues, right next to it. Malendrina Wine Bar, serving Palestinian and Sicilian small plates, was open by July at 36 Pier Ave. A few blocks south, Kasai Records took over the former Decadence space at 1332 Hermosa Ave. with a DJ listening room, yakitori and Asian fusion food.

On the Strand, Chicas Tacos opened inside The Deck at 1272 The Strand on August 15. Closest to the pier, Kasamar was announced for 19 Pier Ave., the former Playa Hermosa Fish & Oyster Co. space, with an August target. As of this writing, its website says only "NOW HIRING."

Together, these businesses put more fixed investment on the plaza side of the beach than on the pier itself. The Walk of Fame monument idea points the same way.

The Pier and Plaza Calendar Through December

The season's events take place on Pier Avenue, Pier Plaza and the sand, so the repair zones on the deck shouldn't affect them.

• October 30, 3 to 6 p.m.: Bark for a Park's Howl-O-Ween Treat Stroll on Pier Avenue.
• November 21 and 22: Hermosa for the Holidays downtown, with local artisans and retailers, food and drink, a Ferris wheel, a concert and a tree lighting.
• December 5, 9 a.m. to noon: Sand Snowman Contest at 15th Street and the shoreline.
• December 6, 3 to 5 p.m.: Community Chanukah Celebration on Pier Plaza, with a menorah lighting.
• December 12, 9 a.m. to noon: The California Great Santa Stroll sets out from Pier Plaza toward the Manhattan Beach Pier.

The December 3 and December 8 council meetings fall between the holiday weekend and the Santa Stroll. The new stainless-steel plaques are due on the railing by the end of the year.

Big civic decisions like the pier's replacement, how it gets paid for, and how long it takes tend to show up in a coastal home's long-term value well before they show up in the headlines. At Lisa B Realty, Lisa looks at local developments like this with a REALTOR®'s market knowledge and a CPA's eye for long-term costs. If you own near Pier Avenue and want a measured read on where your property stands this winter, request a confidential valuation. Get My Valuation.