Slow Death in Pacifica

We live 1/2 block from the Pacifica Municipal Pier. None of the recent developments concerning the crumbling of the cafe building and the pier were surprising, and yet many locals were shocked at how quickly the end came. I think we were all living in denial, knowing that the pier was crumbling, but it would last until "somebody" would fix it...again. Yes, it has had many closures. Yes - those of us who knew its history, remembering when and why it was being built - knew that it was meant to be temporary - until it wasn't.

In 1978, the Pacifica City Council officially named the pier "The Reverand Herschel Harkins Memorial Pacifica Pier". Locals just call it "the pier". In 1997, the pier was referred to as a "Costly liability" for the city. In 2000, the "Preserve Our Pier" group had concerts at the pier to drum up funds for its upkeep and repairs. The State of California had granted $500,000 for repairs in addition to funds raised by the group, which were all just "...a drop in a fishing bucket" to raise funds needed to shore up the deteriorating pier. That was 26 years ago. In 1998, the city spent about $81,000 a year from the public works' portion of the General Fund to pay for maintenance and lighting replacement costs. That money also went to pay for one pier ranger — a program reduced by half, due to budget cuts (there used to be two rangers) — who enforced laws related to the use of the pier, promenade and beaches, as well as cleaned the restrooms, emptied trash receptacles and hosed down the pier's decks. For some time, people complained the lighting on the pier was not extended long enough, so another budget casualty was reinstated.

Even through the pier closures the Chit Chat remained open (most of the time), somewhat like a sentinel. We took it for granted, I guess. Mike and I would stop in regularly for our lemon cake slice after a hike up Mori Point. On cold nights, we would purchase hot clam chowder to bring home. Weekend BBQs were hard to resist. When my daughter visited, she and I would head up to the Chit Chat for Cafe Americanos and bagel breakfast sandwiches. It became a tradition.

I noticed that my last column on Patch about the pier's falling apart was 3 years ago. Many of my cartoons for the Tribune were about the deterioration of the pier, and the city's not being able to keep up with repairs. We could see it coming from a mile away, but as we do with a close loved one who has a long-term illness, the ending is still a shock. As I was heading out to join the crowd watch the Chit Chat being demolished, I heard cheers and applause. Why would they be cheering its demise? I then learned that the workers had retrieved some of Ginger and Branden's valuables for them. That was what the cheering was about. I brought my SLR with me, taking photos and video from two vantage points, even though I knew that the event was being well-covered. David Chamberlain, who owns 4 cams which cover the pier and Mori Point angles, covers it all beautifully. One of my videos shows a drone, clearly covering what can't be photographed from behind a fence. But I wanted my own take on it, for my archives. I am a member of the Pacifica Historical Society, and I had scanned numerous negatives from photos that Lloyd Easterby had shot for the Pacifica Tribune in 1972 of the pier being built. I wanted more images for my archives of the pier, and along with it, the Chit Chat Cafe.

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The Chit Chat building started out as a bait shop run by Elmo DeDeux, owner of the Pacifica Sports Center on Francisco Blvd. In 1973, business was booming, and it did for a number of years. People visited from all over the Bay Area to fish on that pier. Stripers, crab, and other catch were plentiful for anglers. In the early 2000s, the bait shop closed, and the Salada Beach Cafe took over. There were art shows and concerts in and around the cafe. It was quite a happening place, and didn't stop being a happening place as the Chit Chat Cafe.

Will we miss it? Yep. But this year has been year of losses. My brother Tom died in a private plane crash in February. Mike's cousin Lenny (who I graduated with at Oceana High in 1970) passed away soon after that. Along with numerous other significant losses in 2026, the end of the Chit Chat and the pier are just about par for the course.