Pier-Less : 120-Year-Old Ventura Structure Will Close for 1-Year Renovation Project

Shirley Jones jammed a piece of anchovy onto the hook at the end of her fishing line on Thursday and then hurled it off the Ventura Pier, hoping some halibut might nibble.

The 50-year-old Santa Paula woman had caught four fish so far, but tossed two back because they were too small, she said.

Jones, who has been casting lines from the Ventura Pier since her teens, was taking advantage of the few days left before the pier is shut down for a year by concentrating on some serious fishing.

The 120-year-old structure, the longest wooden pier in California, was savaged by winter storms in the 1980s and is scheduled to temporarily close Wednesday so that it can be renovated, officials said.

“It’s long overdue,” said Jones, who used to sleep overnight on the pier with friends when she was in high school. “It used to be packed with people fishing on both sides. Since they closed it off at the end, not as many people come.”

Some parts of the aging pier, including pilings and the deck, are severely weather-beaten or rotting. Buildings at the entrance of the pier are termite-infested, a restaurant manager said.

In 1987, the end of the 1,958-foot pier was fenced off because it is unsafe for pedestrians. On Wednesday, contractors are planning to fence off the entrance to the pier and begin a $2.75-million face-lift.

The project is scheduled to be completed next September, officials said. The entire deck will be redone, and benches and lighting will be upgraded. The seafood restaurant, snack bar and bait shop, all scheduled to shut down Monday night, will be replaced by new versions. The city has also commissioned an $80,000 copper fountain that will spray a stream of seawater into the air.

“It won’t be the same,” Jones said. She plans to continue fishing at the pier when it reopens, but is worried about the increased number of tourists expected.

Other fishermen who have frequented the pier for years, however, say the fishing won’t be spoiled even if there are more tourists.

“I don’t think it will be overrun by tourists,” said Brian Varian, 16, of Woodland Hills, who has been fishing at Ventura Pier for five years. The pier does not have anything that will cause tourists to linger, he said.

“Tourists just walk down to the end and go back,” Varian said. “Most tourists don’t bring their fishing poles with them.”

Varian propped one foot on the wooden railing, toyed with his fishing line and explained why he likes coming to Ventura to fish.

“Down by Malibu and Santa Monica, it’s too polluted,” he said. “You can’t eat the fish there. At least, you won’t get too sick if you eat the fish here.”

Roger Fraser, who manages the bait shop on the pier, said about 300 to 400 people come to fish on weekends.

“We’re just so sorry it’s closing because we’re so attached to it,” said Jamie Fraser, who helps her husband take care of the shop and the snack bar.

The Frasers have other jobs lined up for the next year--she will work as a restaurant cashier and he will work on a fishing boat. But the couple are planning to return when the bait shop is reopened.

When the Frasers aren’t selling food and bait, they save sea gulls that get caught on fishing lines and remove splinters that children pick up from the wooden deck, Jamie Fraser said. “It’s like our family here,” she said.

Kendric Foultz, 34, of Santa Barbara said he was sad to hear that the Pier Fish House would be shut down for a year. Foultz works as a sales representative between Santa Barbara and Ventura, and eats lunch at the pier at least twice a week, he said.

“This is the best fish restaurant in town,” Foultz said as he paid for his lunch. “I was just glad to hear it wasn’t going to be permanently closed.”

Laurie Wheat, 36, of Thousand Oaks said she was happy that the pier is going to be renovated because it will be safer for her three children, whom she brings regularly to the pier.

“They used to build piers so they could unload ships,” Wheat said, munching on pizza as she watched her sons fish. “Now they have to build piers for tourist attractions. Well, if that’s what it takes to keep it going, there are worse things than tourists.”