Beach overhaul should be completed by 2007
WILL ROGERS BEACH — Construction has finally begun for beach improvements that were planned six years ago, though they will cost nearly twice as much as originally planned.
The LA County Department of Beaches and Harbors has begun an $11.6-million upgrade of facilities along Will Rogers State Beach.
The improvements will include modernized lifeguard quarters at Potrero Canyon, new restrooms, more concession stands, handicapped access, a new highway entrance at Temescal Canyon and five repaved parking lots.
When the plan was first unveiled in August 1999, the cost was estimated at $6.5 million with completion slated by Memorial Day 2001.
It’s still a five-phase project with a 14-month completion schedule, now set for March 2007, said Dusty Crane, a public affairs representative for beach and harbors.
Crane said the project has been delayed due to permitting requirements and funding constraints.
Much of the extra expense associated with the project has to do with rising construction costs, Crane said. Another reason more funding was added was so that the buildings could be seismically retrofitted.
Four bathrooms, a concession building and a lifeguard substation will be torn down, said Paul Wong, division chief asset management and the county’s planning bureau, explaining that the nearly expired facilities don’t meet building codes and new ones topped with red-tile roofs and finished in stucco will rise in their places.
The lifeguard headquarters building from the World War II era will remain on the beach, but will be expanded to accommodate more people.
All of the buildings will be wheel chair-friendly when construction is complete, according to Crane.
The County Board of Supervisors gave the OK to pump $4.7 million more dollars into the project last year. The board had previously approved the budget at $6.9 million, which would be paid by Safe Neighborhood Parks Propositions of 1992 and 1996. A loan will take care of $1.2 million of the added $4.7 million the county has added to the project.
Construction may be underway for more than a year, but beachgoers don’t have to worry about it keeping them from the popular hot spot.
The beach which remain open throughout, along with the bike trails, officials said, though there may be some re-routing of the bike trails amid the construction.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 21, 2006. Read the original PDF.