San Diego Begins to Replace the Old Mission Beach Lifeguard Station But Ignores the Even Older Ocean Beach Lifeguard Station.

The City of San Diego has begun the process of replacing the 44-year old Mission Beach lifeguard station. On March 14, the city began fencing off the existing lifeguard tower from the public and started installing a temporary lifeguard tower and trailer just north of the current dilapidated station.

“These temporary facilities will allow lifeguards to operate safely and efficiently while plans are developed to upgrade the existing station,” the city of San Diego said in a released statement at the time work began.

This is all well and good — a lifeguard station that old deserves to be replaced. And the surrounding community deserves it also.

Yet — what about the Ocean Beach lifeguard station? It’s even older than the Mission Beach one. It was built in 1980-1981. (See comments to that post.)

Sure, the city can argue that the Mission Beach station serves a larger community and there’s more beachgoers there than in Ocean Beach. Okay, replace them both.

This also fits a pattern all too familiar with observant OBceans who’ve seen city resources go to other communities over the years — no, over the decades. South Mission Beach got a new lifeguard station; Pacific Beach got a new station; La Jolla got a new one.

But not OB.

Perhaps due to the marginal size of the neighborhood — not that many voters or property owners — Ocean Beach has been repeatedly passed over on infrastructure projects that have been needed.

The Rag did an unscientific commentary on the OB station years ago and found it unsafe and dilapidated. The attached public restrooms are a public disgrace and have needed to be replace for many, many years.

So, it’s not only lifeguard stations, it’s also libraries. Public restrooms.

Promised nearly a quarter of a century ago by the city to OB was a brand new library. It didn’t happen for two and a half decades. Although now, it is in the process of being renewed/ partially replaced. And we are aware, of course, of the astonishing lack of funds overall for public improvements. But OB has been hearing this since the time of Jerry Sanders. In the famous words of Jen Campbell, “We hear you Ocean Beach. I’m a friend of Ocean Beach”  We just ignore you Ocean Beach.

Back to lifeguard stations ….

Here’s the balance of writer Mark Nero’s piece at Times of San Diego.

The existing lifeguard station, located on Ocean Front Walk adjacent to Belmont Park, serves Mission Bay and Mission Beach, and is by far San Diego’s busiest tower, according to city officials. Due in part to its high usage over the years, the tower and its support facility have significantly deteriorated.

In some instances, major fissures can be seen on the exterior of the multi-story structure, measuring several feet long and several inches wide. There’s also rusted-out metal framing running along the multiple-story structure’s roofline and corroded piping plainly visible.

The large holes and gaps in the structure’s walls have been caused by water damage from moisture that has seeped into the concrete walls, according to the city’s Engineering and Capital Projects department.

The city’s move to install the provisional tower comes after the station was declared unsafe and a threat to the general public in a city of San Diego-commissioned report nearly two years ago.

The May 2024 structural evaluation by an architectural firm found that the lifeguard tower, which was built in 1982, needs “immediate hazard mitigation” to alleviate the threat that it presents to the “health, safety, and welfare of the general public.”

Additionally, a November 2024 inspection by the city’s Development Services department determined that the structure was dangerous and unsafe, due in part to the risk of debris falling from the building as concrete in the walls separates from the corroding metal underneath.

During the temporary tower’s construction, the Ventura Place roundabout and the boardwalk just in front of the tower are closed on weekdays. To provide access for all users, a temporary walkway has been installed across the sand on the beach side of the seawall.

Construction of the temporary tower is expected to be completed by Memorial Day, which would allow the boardwalk and Ventura Place roundabout to reopen for the summer season.

The city has said that parking effects associated with the construction are expected to be “minimal.”

Once complete, the temporary facilities are expected to remain in place until a project is finalized to address the existing 44-year-old station. But how long that will be is unknown. It’s also unclear whether the existing tower will be patched up to extend its lifespan for a few more years, or if the building will simply be demolished and a new one built on or near its current footprint.

The decision depends in large part on money, something that the city, which faces a current year budget deficit of over $120 million, is short on.

The cost of building totally new facilities would be about $3.5 million and take about 15 months to complete, according to the Engineering and Capital Projects department.