Crack in Pacifica Pier growing, Chit Chat Café may be demolished

PACIFICA, Calif. - The Pacifica Pier is closed indefinitely after city engineering crews discovered severe structural damage and cracking along the concrete walkway.

Contracted engineers for the city are actively assessing the deterioration to produce a comprehensive damage report. In the meantime, public works crews spent Friday afternoon cordoning off sections of the surrounding sidewalks and roads as the damage continues to worsen at a rapid pace. By evening, a local emergency was declared. 

Cracks in pier

What we know:

Engineers first noticed the cracks at 7 a.m. Thursday morning and promptly closed the structure to the public. 

Officials announced the closure is due to "cracking, separation and displacement" of the pier's walkway, stating it will remain closed until it can "be determined it is safe for public use." The city has not provided a timeline for when or if the pier will reopen.

The structural issues have rapidly worsened. 

Visual inspections over a 24-hour period revealed a gap about a foot wide at the top of the walkway and a wider crack at the base of the structure where the walkway is beginning to separate from the rest of the building.

City of Pacifica Vice Mayor, Greg Wright said the city hired an outside engineering firm to do an assessment of the damage Thursday afternoon and was waiting for a written report, expected sometime Friday. Wright said city leaders had already contacted the offices of their state representatives, Assembly member Mark Berman and State Senator Josh Becker, to find out what resources the state could offer to help with repairs.

Chit Chat Café might be demolished

Why you should care:

The closure has forced the immediate shutdown of the Chit Chat Café, a decades-long staple on the pier. 

The business owners told customers and social media followers that they expect the café will have to be demolished. 

Staff members were ordered to evacuate the building Thursday morning immediately after the cracks were discovered, leaving them unable to remove all their equipment and belongings from the property. 

What you can do:

By Friday afternoon, a crack had grown along the side wall of the Chit Chat Café due to the shifting foundation. The café’s owners announced on Facebook that the building is slated for imminent demolition, but the impact is significant. The business lost two employees and expensive equipment inside that they were not able to retrieve. A GoFundMe campaign launched to support the business owners has already raised more than $7,000.

While the pier location is lost for the foreseeable future, the owners of Chit Chat Café are urging their loyal customers to visit their second location on Manor Drive in Pacifica.

Pier's damage worsens at accelerated rate

The backstory:

Built in 1973, the 1,100-foot-long pier has long served as a popular gathering spot for local anglers and crabbers, and families. 

A local crabber, Dave Gaufo of San Francisco, reported hearing loud, booming sounds originating from the structure one day before the closure.

"I put two and two together," said Gaufo. "I thought maybe it sounded like maybe the rebar was snapping."

Passersby made bets on how long it might be before the pier collapses. 

"I’m thinking it’s going to drop in a couple weeks," said Gaufo.

The closure brings longstanding infrastructure liabilities back to the forefront for city leadership. The city previously spent $700,000 on emergency repairs following a series of winter storms in 2023. At that time, municipal reports indicated the pier required $19 million in comprehensive repairs—funding that never materialized.

"I think it's really sad and unfortunate," said Pacifica resident Dave Madden. "For years there's been issues and closures. I don't see them repairing this."

Other residents spoke about what the loss of the public pier represents. 

"We're a small bedroom community," David Chamberlin said. "To lose one of these focal points would be very bad for this city. [The pier] is a social structure, a family structure. People come out here to BBQ and they share the food with everybody. People spend their day here."

Community fights to pier as city searches for funding

What's next:

According to the mayor, Pacifica is currently grappling with $3 million in structural deficits across its aging infrastructure, a situation exacerbated by recent federal funding cuts. While the City Council approved a newly secured grant for pier design work two months ago, the funds necessary for major structural reconstruction remain unavailable.

City leadership is currently reaching out to state and federal lawmakers to secure emergency funding.

Community members have organized on social media, rallying more than 615 members into a "Save the Pier" Facebook group by late Friday. Local officials are urging residents to bring repair ideas and solutions to Monday night’s City Council meeting, where the city budget will be actively discussed.

Pacifica