SANTA MONICA, CA — For generations of visitors, passing beneath the glowing blue "Santa Monica Yacht Harbor" sign has marked the beginning of a trip onto the Santa Monica Pier. After 85 years, that familiar view is about to temporarily disappear.
The historic neon sign is preparing to come down as work advances on the city's replacement of the aging Santa Monica Pier Bridge, although exactly when crews will dismantle it remains uncertain.
The city's original project schedule called for removal and rehabilitation of the sign to begin in January 2026, but nine months later it remains in place above the Pier entrance. Cecile Oreste, a city spokesperson, told Patch Wednesday that no specific removal date had been confirmed.
Asked what caused the delay, Oreste said the project involves numerous partners and agencies working together on the careful refurbishment of the sign as part of a major infrastructure project. She said she was seeking additional details from the city's Public Works Department.
The city is also still working out details surrounding public and media access when the dismantling takes place, Oreste said. Whenever it happens, the removal will leave an unmistakable gap at the entrance to one of Southern California's most recognizable attractions.
"For 85 years the Pier Sign has welcomed visitors to the Santa Monica Pier and provided that 'must have' Santa Monica photographed memory," Jim Harris, executive director of the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corp., told Patch.
"We will deeply miss it while it is away, but at the same time are excited for its full rehabilitation and cannot wait to see it return as the glowing gateway to the Pier and its new bridge," Harris said.
Getting the sign down will be considerably more complicated than simply unbolting it from the bridge and loading it onto a truck. Crews will first disconnect the electrical power and carefully remove and crate the neon tubes before dismantling the structure in sections, according to reports.
The sign and its supporting components will then be lowered by crane, secured in protective steel shipping frames and transported on separate flatbed trailers to Las Vegas, where sign company YESCO will carry out the restoration.
The city has stressed that the sign is neither being permanently removed nor replaced. Its spring 2026 Seascape publication says the refurbished sign will eventually return at a higher elevation, improving visibility and providing greater vehicle clearance beneath it.
Oreste told Patch that the restored sign is now expected to be installed by late 2027. The city's original October 2025 schedule had called for its return in September 2027. Visitors will not be entirely deprived of the classic Santa Monica photo while the original is away.
Harris said an informational display detailing the sign's history will take its place, while visitors will be directed farther onto the Pier to Central Plaza, next to Pier Burger, where a half-scale replica of the neon arch has already been installed.
The replica was erected in fall 2025 specifically so visitors could continue taking photographs beneath a "Santa Monica Yacht Harbor" sign during construction, according to the city's announcement of the bridge project.
The sign's temporary disappearance is part of a much larger transformation at the Pier entrance. The reinforced-concrete bridge beneath it was built in 1939 and is being replaced with a structure designed to meet modern seismic and safety standards, expand sidewalks and improve pedestrian circulation.
The city selected Shimmick Construction Company to lead what it described in October 2025 as a 24-month, $35 million project. Approximately 75 percent of the project cost, more than $30 million, is being funded through the federal Highway Bridge Program, with the remainder supported by local transportation funds, according to the city.
The replacement bridge is designed for a 75-year service life and will remain the key connection between Ocean Avenue and the Pier. Construction began in late 2025, and the city's current project timeline calls for the work to be completed in December 2027, ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. The city cautions that the construction schedule is subject to change because of factors including weather.
Pier restaurants, shops and attractions are remaining open during construction, with temporary pedestrian and vehicle access maintaining connections while the old bridge is demolished and its replacement built.
Long before it became the backdrop for countless vacation photographs, the sign reflected an effort to reinvent Santa Monica's waterfront. The neon arch was erected in 1941 and designed and constructed by the Pan-Pacific Neon Sign Company, according to the Santa Monica Conservancy. It was designated a City of Santa Monica landmark in 2012.
Its famous wording, however, reaches even further into the Pier's history. Santa Monica built a breakwater in 1933 in an attempt to create the "Santa Monica Yacht Harbor," according to a history of the Pier from the Conservancy. The harbor itself proved short-lived, but its name lived on above the entrance to the Pier.
The sign still welcomes visitors with the words "Santa Monica Yacht Harbor — Sport Fishing — Boating — Cafes," an increasingly nostalgic message that has survived dramatic changes to the Pier and the city around it. Soon, those neon letters will disappear from their familiar perch while the bridge beneath them is rebuilt.
The yacht harbor may have vanished generations ago, but when the restoration is complete, its name will once again glow above the entrance to the Santa Monica Pier.
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