Storm-damaged pier at Seacliff State Beach set for demolition
APTOS -- A storied pier on the Santa Cruz County coast will be demolished next week, park officials announced.
The California Department of Parks recently announced it is planning to demolish the beloved and iconic pier at Seacliff State Park.
"The damage from this past January was pretty immense. And when we consulted with experts and engineers, they surmised that it was too much to rebuild," said Supervising State Park Ranger Joe Connors.
Park rangers estimate they lost more than 200 feet of the pier as it was battered by intense wind, rain and waves. They say what was left standing is at risk of collapse.
Park rangers acknowledge that over the decades generations of visitors to the coast have formed a deep attachment to the pier.
"He loved the ocean. And he loved Aptos," says Mary McNulty, speaking about her father John James' connection to the coast and the pier. Mary says when her father died in 2007 her family decided to honor him with a special bench overlooking the ocean at the edge of the pier.
"Other families have gravesites, we have a bench. So, sometimes you're having issues and you might go and sit at the bench and talk," she said.
Mary says her father was concerned that the bench might not have survived the powerful winter storm that clawed a 200-foot chunk out of the pier.
The bench survived but her family's concern deepened when they heard the news of the scheduled demolition of the pier.
"We were thinking that if they weren't going to do anything with the benches, we would just have in my sister's backyard," she said.
Park rangers have promised to do everything in their power to save the bench and others like it once the demolition begins. But the future of the benches remains uncertain.
