Demolition of old dilapidated Bodega Bay pier underway

A weathered building that for nearly 80 years has extended from the shoreline into Bodega Bay is in its final days, as demolition crews hasten the decaying structure’s demise.

A dangerous eyesore to some, a cherished piece of heritage to others, the Meredith Fish Company pier and cannery will be a mere memory by next month, with only a thick concrete slab anchored in the tidewaters left behind.

What happens next is still to be determined, though Sonoma County officials hope the sturdy deck can be put to creative use as a focal point in the heavily trafficked coastal community, adding aesthetically to the town while also reflecting its traditions as a fishing village.

“We have not committed to a specific project or vision,” said county Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, whose west county district includes the Sonoma Coast. “The goal is to work with the community to create something that is a nod to the tremendous history of the wharf.”

For now, the mission is to make the long-abandoned edifice physically and environmentally safe after years of neglect dating to well before it was formally condemned in 2004. More recently, concerns have focused on trespassing and public safety, as well as falling debris and, potentially, chemicals leaching into the bay.

It’s a costly job, however, coming in at more than $1.1 million owing to hazardous materials used in construction of the original fish processing building and later additions, as well as the sensitivity of the setting in which the work is being done.

There are other safety hazards, too, given the sagging, dilapidated state of the building, which has whole sections of siding missing and support structures no longer properly attached and load bearing.

The work also has been organized to try to have as little effect as possible on nearby businesses and traffic in the Highway 1 tourist destination.

“It’s been a year of planning for, like, a three-week project, and I think we’ve got pretty much all our bases covered for any surprises and anything unforeseen,” said Mike Volatile, the county’s project manager.

Built in 1943, the faded white structure is located at the edge of Highway 1 in the center of the town’s commercial district, between the pink-and-white striped building that houses Patrick’s Salt Water Taffy and Harbor View Gifts & Goodies, both owned by the same couple.

Workers once toiled side-by-side by the dozens shelling crab and processing finfish for sale there, until the early 1960s, according to local newspaper accounts. Afterward, it was a receiving station for fish headed inland, changing hands in the 1990s. It’s then-owner, Eureka Fisheries, went bankrupt in 1998.

In the meantime, the operation expanded, with additions and new rooflines extending the structure farther out into the bay so that the end of the wharf is now about 250 feet from shore, Volatile said. The buildings cover about 9,300 square feet, and combined with the wharf measure about 16,000 square feet, he said.

The last attempt to renovate and revive it for fishing shops and a retail promenade was abandoned in 2000 due to structural deficiencies that would have proved particularly challenging to address, given its location and complicated ownership, according to news accounts at the time. Because it is in the tidelands, the county owns the structural components below mean high tide, and any new construction or demolition would have required substantial regulatory permitting.

Robin Rudderow, archivist for the Rancho Bodega Historical Society, said she wished there had been some way to save the historical structure.

“It just deteriorated to the point where it couldn’t be salvaged,” she said.

She was in a small party of locals who were able to walk through part of it and take photographs of the littered remains before the demolition began, however, documenting hand-painted signs advertising “Live Crab” and “Smoked Salmon and Albacore,” huge rusted boiling pots, the old crab cleaning trays, and rickety piles of wood and metal.

“I think that people appreciated the historical nature of the building and wished that it could have been renovated,” Rudderow said. “At least now, there won’t be any more debris falling into the bay, and at least it won’t be an attractive nuisance attracting people to come and have parties.”

Hopkins said she’s been working for a year and a half on permitting and funding for the job, and was able to get financing for demolition approved in the early part of the summer, even though much of the final budget discussion was postponed this year because of the county’s focus on COVID-19 response. She said $1.2 million was put aside to ensure demolition and abatement is covered, and there may be a bit left over for reuse of the concrete slab that is under about a third of it.

The county hired a general contractor, a demolition contractor and an abatement contractor to team up for the job, surveying as much of the building as could be accessed safely for materials like lead and asbestos and removing those first, Volatile said.

An excavator arrived on site early last week and started biting into the building from land, creating a noisy cacophony that coots and brown pelicans fishing nearby somehow ignored.

Volatile said the idea is to have it move slowly into the building from shore as long as it’s still over concrete, reaching into the structure and gutting it so the walls collapse inward, avoiding as much as possible having construction material leave the site.

Crews have installed floating booms around the construction area and put netting at the base of the decking and partially underneath to try to avoid having anything fall into the water. Two workers also remain on standby in a skiff to retrieve anything that comes loose. Air sampling and monitoring instruments are in use, as well.

The work, considered an emergency demolition job permitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, includes a complete bioassessment survey of the bay and the organisms that inhabit it once demolition is complete, Volatile said.

“The building is in bad shape, so it takes a little bit of care and patience to get it down,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.