OCEANSIDE, Calif. — The City of Oceanside is seeing a boom of growth.
New hotels like the Mission Pacific are transforming Oceanside’s skyline. But just below the new resort are two properties, weathered by the beach and in need of repairs, both named for Oceanside’s favorite son and NFL star Junior Seau.
In May of 2020, the Oceanside City Council turned their attention to the area under the pier between Seau Community Center to Seau Amphitheater, prime real estate for the growing city.
"What that project includes is looking at those amenities that currently exist and identifying opportunities for future improvements to those areas," said Jonathan Borrego, the Oceanside Deputy City Manager.
Borrego says that they're still in the early stages and there are no concrete plans for what the city will do with the space, but they have released several renderings of what the area could look like.
But there are still some holding their breath that the historic buildings might be taken down.
Mary Seau, Junior's sister wants to see the amphitheater and community center renovated but ultimately kept the same, even launching a petition hoping to save the historic spaces.
"I was just worried of the big changes," said Seau. "I don't want those changes. I just want them to fix the damage that we have right now."
Those News 8's Tim Blodgett talked to on the boardwalk agreed that the amphitheater needs work and would welcome the return to concerts and events back to the pier.
"I'd like to see this place get painted, bring back having live entertainment up here," said Michael Thyberg.
"If it was completely knocked down, it would be a little bit disappointing because it's a piece of Oceanside history," said Diana Derosa. "Hopefully, they would build something that was another community asset that would be valuable to our community rather than something that was exclusively for tourists."
On Tuesday, Aug. 31, the Oceanside City Council is inviting the public to comment on what they would like to see in the space below the pier.
The meeting takes place in the Civic Center Library from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
The Oceanside petition link can be found here.
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