Quick Take
The City of Santa Cruz is nearing completion of its planned repairs to the municipal wharf, restoring about 40 feet of the section that was swept away in a storm in December 2024. The city is also moving forward with longer-term plans for the historic structure that could begin as early as this fall.
The City of Santa Cruz is aiming to finish its planned repairs for the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf by the end of February, following a partial collapse of the structure during a storm more than a year ago.
Huge swells tore off the last 150 feet of the wharf in December 2024, sending two workers plummeting into the ocean and closing the wharf entirely for over a week.
While the wharf and its businesses have been fully open since the initial closure ended Jan. 4, 2025, structural repairs to about 40 feet of the damaged section are nearing completion, according to Mike Godsy, City of Santa Cruz superintendent of parks. He couldn’t provide an exact date but said the project is on track to wrap up by the end of this month.
Last week, work crews installed 12 new piles, removed damaged timbers and started to rebuild a row of pilings near the end of the damaged and collapsed area.
“We’re pulling all the bad wood and replacing it with new timber and piles,” Godsy said, and reinforcing the new decking.
Many locals and tourists know the wharf for its sea lion viewing areas, rectangular gaps in the walkway with railings around their perimeters, which allow people to see beneath the wharf where hundreds of sea lions sleep and swim. The four viewing areas on the wharf before the collapse were all either damaged or completely washed away, but the new section of deck will have a viewing area for the public once again, said Godsy.
Godsy said crews still have to pull the temporary construction fencing, crane and lumber in use before finishing up painting and the final minor touches. After that, the very end of the wharf will finally reopen to the public.
Godsy said more work on the wharf is in the pipeline, but getting this end section of the wharf reopened is “a big box checked off.” He said engineering firm Moffatt & Nichol is working on inspections of the integrity of the wharf’s pilings, which he said have shown that 95% of the wharf’s structure is in strong, sound condition.
“That’s fantastic, but of course, we have to plan for replacements and ongoing maintenance,” he said, including the possible replacement of weaker pilings.
Godsy also pointed to the city’s wharf master plan, a document including policies, actions and recommendations for future projects on the wharf and even potential expansion. It recommends relocating the entry gate farther into the wharf and renovating the east side of the structure in the next two to five years. Godsy said the city expects to begin working on the east side parking area this year, likely in the fall.
“We’re pretty much finalizing the construction drawing, and then we have to bid to award the contract,” he said. “That’ll all be done this summer, and then we’ll lock in on the construction schedule.”
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