The Long Beach shoreline could eventually have a much different look and feel under a plan proposed Monday by the City of Long Beach and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“The goal is to improve the bay's ecosystems. And for the first time, the Corps is considering a proposal to do away with part of the breakwater,” LAist reports.
That’s huge because the breakwater, built for the Navy and cargo ships nearly seven decades ago, is what tempered the waves in the area, eradicating what was once a bustling surf culture.
“We want Long Beach and our coast to be as active and as full and as used as any other beach up and down the State of California,” said Mayor Robert Garcia.
There are actually six different ideas for the coastline under consideration. You can view them all here.
Seamus Innes, a coastal engineer and Surfrider Foundation member, said the significance of the plans can’t be understated.
“This would be the biggest change to Long Beach since the port. It would change the face of Long Beach," he said. “...everything would change, property values would go up, instead of being an awesome, beautiful, multicultural town, it would be all that plus a beach town.”