The Seal Beach City Council will hold a workshop Monday, Oct. 12, about options and costs for improving the city’s iconic pier. The workshop will take place during the regular council meeting, which will start at 7 p.m.
Mayor Ellery Deaton, who represents District One, said the purpose of the workshop was to find out what needs to be done, what the costs are and to find out if the community wants a restaurant or other structure at the end of the pier.
Deaton said that there were a lot of costs involved in repairing the pier and the utilities on the pier.
The former location of Ruby’s Diner at the end of the pier has been closed for more than two years. In late August 2014, Hurricane Marie sent unusually heavy waves at the Southern California coast—damaging the pier in the process. A structural analysis of the pier was performed Friday, Aug. 29. At that time, city officials decided to open 3/4 of the pier, up to the construction gate.
The restaurant space at the end of the pier has been closed since the Ruby’s Diner that used to be there served its last meal on Jan. 6 , 2013.
The restaurant chain’s lease on the space had expired by that time and the chain was renting the space on a month-to-month basis while negotiating a new lease with the city.
The negotiations broke down and the restaurant closed.
The building that once housed the restaurant was found to be in disrepair.
It has remained closed, boarded up and protected by a chain link fence since. In late April 2014, then-City Attorney Quinn Barrow announced that the City Council had directed him to negotiate a pier development agreement with Off The Hook, which is owned by the owners of the Original Fish Company.
The pier space remains undeveloped.
A 2013 Sun News online poll asked readers “What should replace Ruby’s Diner at the end of the Seal Beach Pier?”
Forty-four percent of participants voted for “a family restaurant.”
A 2015 Sun News poll asked, “Would you support a business other than a restaurant on the Seal Beach Pier?”
Sixty-five percent of the participants voted “No, it must be a restaurant.”
