Sparkling Sands: The new seawall, complete with wooden railing, sweeps uphill on the 'College Side' of Avila, in front of the Inn at Avila Beach.

By Teresa Mariani

It’s October, and The Locals - and out-of-towners too - are returning to Avila Beach. Mostly, they have one thing on their minds: Will it be OK?

After checking out the Pier, the new Front Street pedestrian plaza and beach boulevard under the Indian Summer sun, the answer is turning out to be a "Yes."

Like the many fans of the little beach town who flock here every summer from Fresno, Bakersfield, Visalia, Porterville, Hanford, and other parts of the San Joaquin Valley, the Locals have had their eye on Avila for a year now. They’ve watched Unocal crews set to work cleaning up 40 years’ worth of residue that the company’s tank farm pipes had leaked under the tiny town.

The cleanup included tearing down or carting off most everything in the four square blocks by the beach that make up "downtown" Avila, in order to clean up residue in the largely sandy ground beneath.

After a year of work, the beach at Avila Beach reopened last spring, in time for the summer tanning and surfing season - while work continued on rebuilding the streets and sidewalks of downtown. That included Front Street, the beachside boulevard familiar and loved by locals, students from nearby Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and Valley Vacationers alike.

Now, most of that work is finished, and some of the town’s familiar landmarks have been put back in place.

	Landmark Returns: The Avila Grocery is back on Front Street where it used to be, and the pier fishing fans are back too. Actually, they never left.

Next to the new pedestrian plaza and street improvements, a few of the local landmarks have been returned. The Avila Grocery isn’t open yet, but it’s back. For Avila fans, it’s a soothing presence - sitting right where it used to be, looking mostly the same. Just like the Yacht Club, right where it belongs at the base of the pier. (The Yacht Club is open - but only to members, just like it used to be.)

At the hill at the end of the beach, the Inn at Avila Beach is still there, bright banners fluttering cheerily from the balconies in the warm breeze; it’s been open all through the beach cleanup while also undergoing some upgrades of its own.

The Avila Pizza Pantry and the Laundromat and apartment complex next door are all still there - and also currently empty. Still, "It’s good to have it back," said Susan Holty of San Luis Obispo, nodding toward the Avila Grocery. "I think it’s going to be OK after all."

Checking Out the "New" Avila Beach
Like Holty, plenty of the tiny town’s legion of fans are heading to Avila Beach to check out the changes.

	'New Stuff': Nyssa Holty and mom Susan Holty of San Luis Obispo check out the new landscaping on the Front Street Pedestrian Plaza.

Holty, a mom from San Luis Obispo, brought daughter Nyssa to Avila Beach one gorgeously warm Indian Summer afternoon in October to do just that. "I think we needed to come here and make our peace with all the newness," Susan Holty said, as mother and daughter admired the new planters and tidepool pond near the pier.

The Holtys have been coming to Avila Beach ever since they moved to San Luis Obispo seven years ago. "It’s our favorite beach," Susan Holty said, as Nyssa nodded in agreement.

The Holtys - and about 200,000 other county residents and Avila fans from The Valley.

The mother and daughter were quickly warming up to the ‘New’ Avila Beach.

Is it Real? Looks like it, but this starfish is a bench decoration, not a live thing, on the new Front Street Pedestrian Plaza.

"There’s a bunch of new stuff. My favorite is the rocks," Nyssa said, pointing to the sandstone boulders placed at the base of the pier to create a small Plaza pond in the shape of a tidepool, complete with faux mollusks, starfish and sea snails realistic enough to make adults do a double-take and little kids try to pick them up and take them home. (You can’t - they’re cemented in there tight. And yes, they are fake.)

That was the verdict from Dan Gibbs, a retiree from Paso Robles out strolling by the pier the same sunny morning.

"I’ve been coming here for years and years and years, since I was a kid. And that’s a lot of years," he joked. "This is the best beach. It’s always going to be my favorite, no matter what. The weather is better here. It’s always warm here. You go around the corner to Pismo and it’s cold," he said.

"It’s a south-facing beach in Avila, you know, so it’s usually always sunny," he explained. "It’s perfect for swimming and kayaking. I don’t kayak yet," he added with a laugh, "but I’m going to start!"

Under the October sky, Gibbs was giving the new Avila a thumbs-up too. "You can tell it’s not finished yet - but I like all of the décor, and all of the little stuff," he said, gesturing to the starfish on the concrete planter benches, and children scampering around them.

Changes for the Better

	No lines: New, expanded restrooms anchor the Pier at Avila Beach.

Some of the Project Avila changes are easy to spot, chief among them being the Front Street plaza and the new public restrooms. They’re still right where they used to be - at the base of the Avila Pier, behind the Avila Beach Yacht Club.
(The Yacht Club’s back too.)

They look a lot different from the outside: bright yellow clapboard with white trim - a sort of beach farmhouse look that had some locals grumbling. Until they went inside.

A lot more stalls, sinks and soap grace the expanded public restrooms. And in addition to the Pier restrooms, more public restrooms are being built in the community park now under construction at the west end of the beach. In the pier restroom complex, there are also two unisex handicapped access bathrooms, and a larger lifeguard’s headquarters in the building.

Outside on the beach, the "get the sand off the kids!" showers are still there - right where they used to be. Only now they’re on a curving concrete pad that’s part of a "stepped down" beach access area.

Don't Drive There: The block of Front Street at the base of the pier and the Yacht Club has been blocked off to cars and turned into a new Pedestrian Plaza.

The beach access steps at either side of the pier are one of the biggest changes. At both sides of the pier, curving landscaped paths and steps with benches wind down to the sand, making a fun trail for smaller kids and an easier transition to the sand for seniors and others.

Away from the pier, regular flights of steps still march down to the beach at periodic intervals along the seawall. The seawall itself is a softer sandstone color, now topped with a railing perfect for people watching.

True, the swing sets on what every Local calls the "family side" of the beach are gone. They’ll be moved to a new park and children’s play area at the very west end of Avila Beach. The park is scheduled to be completed in November. A bright red pirate’s ship already sits in a sea of sand there. The parking lot behind the Avila Post Office is scheduled to be completed in November too.

Pedestrian Plaza Pleases Parents
The biggest change Avila fans will spot first off is the Pedestrian Plaza itself. The block of Front Street at the base of the pier has been closed off to auto traffic and turned into a giant sidewalk, complete with planters, benches, Nyssa’s favorite tidepool, a tile mosaic, and a row of palm trees. There are even bike racks designed to look like wooden hitching posts.

The Front Street Plaza was quickly winning over moms.

"I think I like this, because it’ll be great for the kids," Susan Holty said. "You know, before when we were crossing the street here, you had to be really careful for all the traffic. You did worry a little with the kids when it was really crowded."

With a glance at the new Front Street Pedestrian Plaza, it’s easy to see it full of teen-agers and college kids and vacationers in the summer, all strolling back and forth to get ice cream cones and French fries between boogie boarding and sun tanning, while grandparents and beachcombers rest on the benches.

Downtown Avila: Who’s Coming Back?

	Not Moving: Fat Cat's Cafe isn't downtown, but it's still at Port San Luis with the same great food and great patio it's always had, still open 24 hours a day.

At the moment, there’s still no place to stroll to for those French fries - unless you count The Olde Port Inn and Fat Cat’s, a little over a mile down the road in Port San Luis, or Mulligan’s, the restaurant at the Avila Resort Golf Course across San Luis Bay Drive.

Downtown Avila is currently one shining square of squeaky-clean sand, except for the empty Pizza Pantry and Avila Grocery buildings awaiting for their reopening.

Will the businesses be back? That’s what the Locals want to know - along with the rest of Avila’s fans.

"I’m waiting to see what’s here," Susan Holty said. "I hope all the little shops come back, and they look like they did before: like a bunch of beach shacks. And that funky swimsuit store - I loved it. Will it be back? We’ll just have to wait and see."

"The Custom House was one of my favorites," Gibbs said. "Is that coming back?"

The answer is yes, on both counts: Custom House and the Sea Barn will definitely be back, along with plenty of other familiar businesses.

A handful of Avila favorites already have architectural drawings and permit requests in to the San Luis Obispo County Planning Department, and are waiting for the county’s OK to rebuild. They include the Sea Barn, The Old Custom House, Mr. Rick’s, Beachcomber Bill’s, and the Avila Cafe.

Co-owners Micheal Kidd and Kevin Thornton of The Inn at Avila Beach has submitted plans for a new 28-room hotel on San Miguel Street, a few blocks back from the beach and Front Street.

The partners plan to operate both their existing hotel and the new one a few blocks away as The Inn at Avila Beach. "We’re betting on the whole ‘Phoenix Rising from the Ashes’ in Avila Beach theme," Kidd said. (Click here to see architectural drawings of the new hotel.)

Back on Front Street, The Custom House and Mr. Rick’s are shooting to have their buildings up and open in Spring, 2001 - a big relief to Custom House fans, who tend to be die-hards.

"We will be on the corner of San Miguel and Front Street, right on the Plaza," said Chris Chandless, general manager of both the Old Custom House and Mr. Rick’s. "The Custom House will be on the corner, and then we’ll have an outdoor patio for the Custom House, and then we’ll have Mr. Rick’s."

Much of the original menu will be back, as will the Custom House patio fishpond and greenery. The pool tables will return to Mr. Rick’s; the bar will have a lighthouse look to the exterior, Chandless said. (Click here to see the architectural drawings of the Old Custom House and Mr. Rick’s.)

"Mr. Rick’s hasn’t changed much in size; it’s about the same. The Custom House is bigger, and we’re making a little better use of the space," Chandless said. He hopes to begin construction soon to make the Spring ’01 opening date.

The Sea Barn is also shooting to "break sand" on their new building any day now. The familiar swimsuit and beachwear store will be right next door to Mr. Rick’s on the Plaza. "We know we’re going to be open sometime next year," said Linda Price, who owns the familiar bathing suit store along with husband Bill. "We’d love to be open by next spring. It’s all designed and ready to go; it’s sitting on the county’s desk and they’re doing their thing with it," she said.

The couple opened a Sea Barn in the new Wal-Mart shopping center off Highway 101 in Arroyo Grande when they had to move out of their Avila location during the Project Avila cleanup. Business has been so good, they will keep the Arroyo Grande store open in addition to their new Avila Beach store.

"The local people love us being here in Arroyo Grande," Price said. "Avila has always been more of a tourist town. We get a lot of people from Bakersfield, Fresno and Visalia there. A lot of times they’ll come in and buy a suit and just wear it out onto the beach and start playing," she said.

The Price’s new Sea Barn in Avila will be 2,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, almost double the size of their old shop. It will also be in a new location: right across from the Avila Pier, smack in the middle of the new Pedestrian Plaza. It will have a basement below and a condominium above. "We’re not sure if we’ll live there yet or not; we may," Linda Price said.

The couple has tried to hold on to the Sea Barn’s funky roots in their new building design. "It’s wood, so it will still kind of have a ‘barn’ motif. Our architect knows a source for recycled wood, so we’re trying to use recycled wood, so it doesn’t look like a brand new shiny building," Price stressed. "Everyone wanted that kind of funkiness to stay in Avila, so we’re really trying to hang on to that."

"No one," Linda Price said, speaking for just about all the Locals and plenty of longtime Valley Avila fans, "wanted to see a big stucco wall."

What Else is Coming Back? Stay Tuned.

	Downtown: Avila Beach is manicured and ready for rebuilding around the old Avila Grocery. At least three other old favorites have already applied for permits to rebuild in time for next summer.

No one knows for sure yet just what else will rise in downtown Avila Beach. Unocal bought much of the land before the cleanup, settling with the previous owners. Now it’s looking to sell it; the company maintains it does not want to be a landlord or property manager.

One of the pieces it owns is the Avila Grocery itself. What kind of business opens up in the old grocery will be up to the new owners, spokesman Dean Mignola said. Unocal is looking to sell its downtown Avila Beach land sometime in early 2001; the company has a list of buyers who’ve expressed interest in the properties already.

Unocal wants to make sure the buyers’ plans are in line with the Specific Plan for Avila Beach, a county planning blueprint for the town. They also want buyers who can demonstrate what they rebuild in Avila "will be viable and self-sustaining," Mignola said. "They’re really trying to look out for the best interests of Avila," he said. "They want this to turn out well."

- Writer Teresa Mariani is based on the Central Coast; she’s been going to Avila Beach for 18 years.

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