Laguna’s Main Beach Park renovations expected to be completed in May
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It’s hard for any passersby to ignore the sight of construction fencing and activity throughout Main Beach Park in Laguna Beach, known locally as the town’s “window to the sea.”
As the days grow longer and the tourist season approaches, the question of what’s behind the uninviting change of scenery came from a member of the audience at last month’s State of the City event.
Mark McAvoy, the city’s director of public works, described it as a “major maintenance project.” The construction began in January and is expected to wrap up in May.
“It’s upgrading some irrigation and taking care of some overdue maintenance needs on the lighting systems, the benches, the sidewalks and the landscaping out there,” McAvoy told those gathered at the event held March 19 at the Montage Laguna Beach.
The work stems from a City Council meeting on Nov. 12, when the five-member panel approved a $1.4 million-contract for the rehabilitation project to be completed by R2Build.
At the time, the city had approximately $925,700 budgeted for project-related costs. At the request of city staff, the council gave direction to have $755,000 transferred from the Bolsa Way storm drain improvement funds to cover the estimated $1.68 million total cost of the Main Beach Park project.
The latter project, city staff noted, was not expected to get underway with construction before the end of the fiscal year, which is June 30. The staff report said funding would be requested for the storm drain through the capital improvement program in the next budgetary cycle.
McAvoy told the council in November that multiple years had passed since the park project had been budgeted, leading to a deficit in funding for the renovations. The council reviewed the preliminary design for the project in October 2019.
“Construction costs only go in one direction, and that is exponentially higher every minute of every day,” McAvoy said at the meeting.
Yun-Yun Lee, the project manager, said in a phone interview Wednesday that the construction is being broken down into four phases, working from Laguna Avenue to the south toward the marine safety headquarters to the north. It is anticipated that the second phase, an area extending toward Broadway Street, will be completed between the middle and the end of April, Lee said.
The goal remains to finish the renovations ahead of Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial kickoff to the busy summer season for beach cities.
“We’re doing our best to try to keep the project moving along to meet the deadline,” Lee said. “We’re doing what we can to try to still provide a new updated version of the park, so the residents are able to enjoy, and all the guests that do come to Laguna Beach are able to enjoy Main Beach and the beauty it brings to the city.”
At the time of contract approval, council members also showed interest in improvements for the Main Beach boardwalk and the cobblestones.
“This is our frontyard,” Councilman Bob Whalen said then. “This is our living room, so it should look really good.”
Construction remains ongoing Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Main Beach Park has remained open to the public.
