Dec. 25 (UPI) — The famed Santa Cruz Wharf on the California coast will remain indefinitely closed until further notice after part collapsed this week with city leaders fearing for its future due to growing effects of climate change, according to officials.
About 150 feet of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf fell into the Pacific Ocean on Monday before 1 p.m. PST.
Three people fell into the ocean but suffered only minor injuries. Police evacuated the wharf Monday and called in a drone to be certain additional victims were not in the water.
On Tuesday, local officials met to decide if the wharf should stay closed until further notice while city engineers perform a full damage assessment on the structure built in 1914 and known as the longest pier on the West Coast.
Lost was the Dolphin Restaurant and a restroom on a part of the wharf — which was in the middle of a $4 million project to fix part of the aging structure — closed to the public since December last year after lingering damage by previous winter storms.