After this restroom building was torn off of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf Monday by heavy surf and ended up at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River, officials have closed the wharf indefinitely. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)

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.

Debris from the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf end up strewn across area beaches and across the jetty (shown here) at the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)

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.

Numerous pylons from the Santa Cruz Wharf, sand and debris washed across East Lake Avenue at 24th Avenue in Live Oak during Monday’s heavy surf. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)

“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.”

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General assignment reporter, covering nearly every beat. I specialize in feature stories, but equally skilled in hard and spot news. Pajaronian/Good Times/Press Banner reporter honored by CSBA. https://pajaronian.com/r-p-reporter-honored-by-csba/

2 COMMENTS

  1. What about the the small excavator that sink.in the water ,oil, diesel hydraulic fluids

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