More than two years after the Ocean Beach Pier was locked behind gates and declared too damaged to repair, frustrated residents say the shuttered landmark is slipping into ruin in plain sight – and that people are now picking it apart.
The OB Pier and its shuttered Pier Café have effectively become a wild, windswept roost for pelicans, seagulls, and every other coastal bird that can find a ledge. The structures are now coated in layers of bird droppings, giving the once-beloved café and railings a ghostly, chalk-white appearance. With no foot traffic, no maintenance, and no oversight, the pier has also turned into a magnet for aspiring graffiti “artists,” whose tags now stretch across walls, windows, benches, and even structural supports. Residents say that in addition to the vandalism, the abandoned buildings are being quietly picked apart by looters stripping fixtures and equipment – a slow-motion scavenging that has left the iconic landmark looking more like an urban ruin than the community treasure it once was.
One local recently described the scene bluntly: “The pier structure and cafe are being looted of anything of value. And graffiti is everywhere not only on the cafe but spreading like gangrene around OB.”…