The list of people who love piers is long.

Anglers drop fishing lines and lean against railings, hoping to catch something big. Walkers stroll to piers’ ends, taking in a salty sunrise or a day’s final moment, when the sun is a fiery line on the horizon. Surfers love how piers re-shape the waves and, for extra thrills sometimes zoom between the pilings.

And, of course, lovers love piers. Countless first dates and first kisses and marriage proposals have happened on the piers that poke out from beaches from Malibu to San Clemente.

The San Clemente pier in San Clemente on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. The pier is undergoing a slow restoration with the help of the San Clemente PierPride Foundation. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A visitor strolls along the San Clemente pier in San Clemente on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fishermen on the San Clemente pier wait for fish to bite in San Clemente on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. The pier is undergoing a slow restoration with the help of the San Clemente PierPride Foundation. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Sound The gallery will resume in seconds

A young visitor to the San Clemente pier checks out a seagull in San Clemente on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. Some of the work that has been done includes sanding a painting the pier with an epoxy paint expected to last at least 10 years. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Visitors walk along the San Clemente pier in San Clemente on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. The pier is undergoing a slow restoration with the help of the San Clemente PierPride Foundation. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)



Visitors to the San Clemente pier take in the view in San Clemente on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. The pier is undergoing a slow restoration with the help of the San Clemente PierPride Foundation. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Educational signs along the San Clemente pier that highlight the town’s history are being replaced as part of the renovation of the pier in San Clemente on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

As part of the renovation, signage will be updated to help passengers exiting the train find their way to the San Clemente pier in San Clemente on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The San Clemente pier in San Clemente on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. The pier is undergoing a slow restoration with the help of the San Clemente PierPride Foundation. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

VIsitors cross the tracks on their way to the San Clemente pier in San Clemente on Wednesday, November 22, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)



But in Southern California, we’re also tough on our piers.

In many communities, the local pier was one of the first things built, a lure to draw visitors and the de-facto mall before malls were invented.

Some piers, like the former Aliso Beach Pier that was deemed irreparable in the late 1990s, couldn’t stand the test of time. Others, like the piers in Malibu and San Clemente, have taken such a thrashing from the waves and salt air that they need extra maintenance to stave off total deterioration. Seal Beach’s pier is partially shut down after a restaurant at the end of it burned to a crisp.

Long Beach officials hope their city’s pier will serve as a crown jewel when the 2028 Olympics are held in the Los Angeles area. And up in Manhattan Beach, officials are sprucing up an aquarium to showcase ocean creatures.

Many of the iconic piers in Southern California are undergoing some kind of restoration. Here are some details:

Seal Beach

The pier was on fire.

In May of 2016, an electrical fire in the Ruby’s Diner that had been vacant for three years turned the end of the Seal Beach Pier into a Roman Candle, shooting flames and dark clouds into the air. The restaurant was wiped out and the pier itself was damaged.

Work to repair that damage remains in progress. The pier project has needed approval from several government agencies. Next year, a bid will go out to get a contractor, with a contract expected to be awarded by the end of 2018, said Patrick Gallegos, assistant city manager.

But even with the damage, Gallegos said the pier — three quarters of which remains open to the public — is a hub of activity. Walkers and tourists visit daily.

“The pier is very iconic in our town, one of the most important elements in our community,” Gallegos said. “It’s one of the last wooden piers. Any time you have damage of something so iconic, its going to have an impact.”

It’s unknown who will take over the concession at the end of the pier. Gallegos said city officials are studying other piers to see what works. Most importantly, he said, the new venue will be based one what the community wants.

“Hopefully we can get something out there that everybody loves.”

San Clemente

On Oct. 13, the pier lit up as the sun dipped in.

Standing on the platform holding up their cell phones and lights to illuminate the pier were an estimated 400-500 people who were there for one reason: to share in the pride of the pier.

The San Clemente PierPride Foundation started about a year and a half ago as a non-profit, taking into their own hands restoration of the aging pier after funds from the state that used to help with upkeep were cut out of the budget.

“The pier started getting shabby looking,” said a PierPride founder, Jim Nielsen. “The water lines and utility pipes aren’t holding up. A number of us in town said ‘let’s get a bunch of people together to do some fundraising.'”

Last year, the group raised about $100,000 to sand and paint the pier with an epoxy paint that’s expected to last at least 10 years. Educational signs highlighting the town’s history– as well as other coastal landmarks like Catalina and the Dana Point headlands — are being replaced.

Next on the to-do list, with an additional $100,000 raised this year, is signage that will make it easier for visitors to figure out how to get on to the pier as they exit the train that stops nearby.

“To this town, everyone who has grown up in San Clemente had some memory at the pier, whether it was a first date or marriage proposal,” Nielsen said.

Another project, slated for next year, will include video in which people will be asked to say what the pier means to them. With an estimated 2 million visitors annually, there should be plenty of stories.

“It’s obviously the focal point of our town,” Nielsen said.

Malibu

The monster waves of Hurricane Marie, in the summer of 2014, beat the heck out of Malibu’s wooden pier.

Earlier this year, officials completed a $4.5 million emergency project to replace several of the 122 pilings and strengthen “weak points” in the center of Malibu Pier, which is more than 100 years old. Work will resume next year to fix a septic tank that was ripped from under the pier, said Craig Sap, superintendent of California State Parks Angeles District.

“It’s gone through some hard times,” Sap said of the pier.

Still, the pier has seen an uptick in tourism. Sap said a concessionaire has done a great job bringing in successful restaurants, and social media has spread the word. And, while parking remains a problem, Sap noted that ride sharing programs increasingly bring people to the beach for the day, boosting pedestrian visitors at the pier.

“It certainly is a draw. It’s very visual,” Sap said. “If you’re down on the beach, that thing sticks out a couple hundred yards.”

Malibu’s pier is one of the region’s last remaining wooden piers, hinting at the city’s past.

“I think there’s this reemergence of the history of these old structures,” Sap said. “Having a wood (pier) hearkens back to a century ago. Part of our mission is to maintain the history.”

Manhattan Beach

Last May, Manhattan Beach officials approved a $2.5 million improvement to the Roundhouse Aquarium at the end of the city’s pier. The project is expected to be complete by June of next year.

The revamp will include a multi-media area, a “touch” tank and a shark tank, as well as a teaching area. A jellyfish tank will also be on display, and the ceiling will be covered in an ocean-inspired fabric decorated with marine animals.

Belmont Pier

With the Olympics coming to Los Angeles in 2028, Long Beach is considering either major renovations to its existing, dilapidated Belmont Pier, or building a new one from the ground up.

“Our pier is about 50 years old and it is having some significant infrastructure issues,” said Tom Modica, assistant city manager.

And with Long Beach as the official sailing venue for the 2028 Olympics, Modica said the city is “looking at what it would take to replace or upgrade the facility.”

The city has already set aside $200,000 for a feasibility study to figure out which option makes better sense. One option would be to build a new pier where the original grand pier was built in 1911, just west of the existing 1,620 foot long pier.

A new pier would have a price tag of about $25 million to $30 million.

Modica said there were talks about revamping the pier even before it was announced that the Olympics would be coming to the region. The city has been looking at beach communities in places like Florida, where piers have integrated community gathering areas rather than the traditional linear structure.

“Piers are an iconic part of a beach community,” he said.