City of Santa Cruz questions the future of wharf design following its partial collapse Monday

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) -- During a press conference held at Cowell's Beach on Friday, City of Santa Cruz Manager Mark Huffaker said that although the city had hoped to get the Santa Cruz Wharf reopened in the coming days, they are waiting for structural approval and won't reopen the wharf until it is safe to do so.

He also said that the debris field from the collapsed portion of the wharf extends as far as 10 miles south of the Santa Cruz.

"That debris cleanup will be a monumental effort, including many other partner agencies [like] State Parks, the National Marine Sanctuary, Cal OES, the Coast Guard, County Sheriff's Office and many others," he said.

Parks and Recreation Director Tony Elliot took the podium to add that the 20 businesses currently occupying the wharf are working behind the scenes to try and secure their goods, especially the restaurants.

He said that during normal winter months, the wharf can see around 2 million visitors.

Talking about the end of the wharf where construction was happening, Elliot said that they had a construction window between September and March. "That's a challenging time of year, as we know, with these swells and storms," he added.

Elliot confirmed that the three workers who ended up falling into the water Monday, were not construction workers actively working on the area, but project leads conducting inspections.

Elliot said that up until the end of the wharf collapsed, the city was in close communication with contractors trying to make a safety plan. He said that they knew the spot was "vulnerable," which is why it was under construction.

"The incident on Monday was the largest swell that we've seen in 30 years," he said. "That, combined with the end of the wharf being under construction and damaged and weakened from previous storms, was really the vulnerable point."

City Manager Huffaker addressed one question about whether the city plans to continue trying to rebuild the section at the end of the wharf that collapsed, saying, "I don't think we can speak with any confidence at this point whether rebuilding that section of the wharf is feasible or the appropriate thing to do in light of increased frequency of these storm events that we're experiencing along our coastline.

"We've got some hard decisions and hard conversations that we're going to have to make," he continued. "Longer term, we will be having a lot of discussions with our city council and our outside experts about what this new normal looks like when it comes to the wharf and our news coastal reality."

"What is the right thing to do here?" Asked Mayor Fred Keeley. "To say, 'We're simply going to put it back,' is, I think, much more risky and frankly irresponsible than having a very serious conversation.

"You've got basically a mile long commercial roadway over open ocean... you've got to ask the question if that's what we should keep doing, and if so, in what way?" Continued Keeley.

"We have projects that have been ready to go that could have prevented this most recent collapse," added Huffaker. "We'll never know for sure."

Huffaker said that due to (unspecified) lawsuits against city involving the wharf, they haven't been able to put funds into the aforementioned projects, which left the wharf vulnerable.

"It is certainly an inflection point as we think about where we're going to go from here as we continue to see increased frequency [and] these powerful storms coming through as a part of our new coastal reality in Santa Cruz," he said.

The city reiterated that their immediate priority is to reopen the wharf and businesses safely, which, according to Huffaker, involves two items: removing the construction equipment from the wharf and a structural integrity assessment.

The city says that they hope to have these items completed within the upcoming days, but that they are trying to get Main and Cowell's Beach open by Saturday.

Santa Cruz Wharf partially collapses, three construction workers fall into the water

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Santa Cruz fire confirms to KION a 150 foot portion of the wharf fell into the water, taking three construction workers down into the ocean.

Jenny Caye Marini

Video taken by Jenny Caye Marini shows someone standing on the flotilla of debris in the water.

Jenny Caye Marini

Alekz Londos

Two of the victims were rescued by lifeguards and one victim was able to get out of the water on their own.

No significant injuries were reported, according to Santa Cruz Fire.

Some of the debris, including potentially hazardous materials, released during the incident according to Santa Cruz Fire.

As a result, the city is shutting down Main and Cowell's Beach.

KION crews reported seeing the bathroom structure previously on the wharf floating up against a cliffside at the eastern edge of the Boardwalk.

The part of the wharf that collapsed was already closed due to previous storm damage. The wharf is being shut down for at least the rest of the day.

 High Surf and Coastal Flood Warnings remain in effect.