Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf will remain closed indefinitely after waves on Monday sheared off a 125-foot section that was already closed and under construction from storm damage in 2023.
In a press conference on Dec. 24, officials did not give a timeline for the popular tourist attraction to reopen. But they said that assessments are ongoing.
The waves smashed the wharf just after noon Monday, sending massive amounts of wood, pilings and the entirety of the public restroom into the surf, with the latter floating away and landing on the shore nearby.
Mayor Fred Keeley said that the damage—coupled with the reality of a changing climate—is cause to think about how rebuild from these and similar events.
“That is a sober conversation about what happens where you are a jurisdiction on the edge of the continent in a world of climate change,” he said. “Do you simply say, ‘that was that and we’re simply going to put everything back and see how it goes?’ I’m not as sanguine about that.”
