The blue neon arch over the Santa Monica Pier entrance is about to come down for the first time in 85 years. Crews will take it apart in sections and ship it by flatbed to Las Vegas, where YESCO will restore and store it until the new Pier Bridge is finished. The Pier's entrance has been moving since early summer, and the sign is the last piece of the old entrance still standing. When the sign returns, the Santa Monica Lookout reports, it will stand about 10 feet north of where it stands today, and higher.
The arch is not leaving forever. But the front door it framed for most of a century is already somewhere else.
A Sign That Has Moved Before
The sign was unveiled on June 17, 1941. It went up after the Pier's old access was removed and a ramp was built to carry traffic from the end of Colorado Avenue onto the deck. The Santa Monica Businessmen's Association paid the Pan-Pacific Neon Sign company $2,000 to design and build it: a Streamline-Moderne arch with blue, white and gold letters. The neon went dark for periods, most famously during World War II, and the Pier's uses have changed many times. The 35-foot curve has kept the same words through all of it: Santa Monica, Yacht Harbor, Sport Fishing, Boating, Cafes.
The arch has also moved once already. The Lookout drew on an account by Alex Mebane, who wrote a book on Santa Monica's signs, and passed along his summary of the historical record:
"The occasional truck hits it and according to the historical documents, it was moved in the 1950s to be closer to Ocean Avenue."
According to Mebane, the sign has been repainted, but only the neon tubing and wiring have ever been replaced. "Everything else is original." The City has both landmarked and trademarked it. So the arch is protected, but its location has never been fixed. Delivery trucks and the street grid moved it once, and the new bridge is about to move it again.
The Entrance Moved First
The bigger change came on June 5. That day the City opened a temporary pedestrian bridge about 30 feet south of the old Ocean Avenue entrance and made it the main way in on foot. The old entrance was set to close as crews began preparing for demolition. The City's June notice listed these ways in:
- The temporary pedestrian bridge off Ocean Avenue, the main entrance
- Ocean Front Walk
- The protected walkway along the temporary vehicle ramp in the Pier parking lot
- The stairs near Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
Bikes, skateboards and other small vehicles are not allowed on the temporary pedestrian bridge. The City sends them to Seaside Terrace instead. The temporary ramp from the beach lot carries emergency vehicles, deliveries and public parking traffic. That means anyone who has walked onto the Pier since June has been walking past the arch, not under it.
A Year With Two Signs
The City has planned the sign's departure for a long time, and the date has slipped. When the City Council approved the construction contract in October 2025, the City said the original sign would come down "at the end of the year." It also installed a lit, half-scale replica in the middle of the Pier, next to Pier Burger and near the entrance to Pacific Park. The City's announcement promised that "for the next few months," visitors could see two Pier signs.
Those few months have turned into about a year. The City's construction updates page now says the sign will be temporarily removed in "fall 2026." As of mid-October, neither the City nor the local press has reported that the original has come down. Both still describe the removal as coming soon.
For now, a person standing near Pier Burger can see both arches. The full-size original stands at the old bridge head and the half-scale copy stands down the deck. The replica is lit, so it works as the photo spot the City intended. Once the original is crated, the replica will be the only sign on the Pier for more than a year.
How the Arch Comes Apart
The City has published the removal steps in some detail, and the Lookout relayed them:
- The power is cut, and the neon tubes are removed and packed in crates.
- The Crown Sign is unbolted and lifted off by crane while temporary supports hold up the historic sign cage.
- Crews remove the arched support truss and columns and lower the pieces into protective steel shipping frames.
- The sign, truss and Crown Sign are braced, wrapped and loaded onto separate flatbed trailers for Las Vegas.
In Las Vegas, YESCO will restore the neon tubing, remove rust, repaint and make structural repairs. The sign will then stay at a secure YESCO facility while the bridge is built. YESCO's restoration work also includes the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign. Santa Monica Next reports that the City is not replacing the sign with a new design and that its historic character will stay intact.
Ten Feet North, Seventeen Feet Up
The restored arch will go about 10 feet north of its current spot and will be raised to 17 feet of vertical clearance. City officials say the change is "to improve visibility and provide increased clearance for vehicles." In other words, the new placement is meant to fix the same truck problem that moved the sign in the 1950s.
The bridge underneath it is changing too. The new structure will meet modern seismic and safety standards. It will be wider than the 1939 bridge, keep one traffic lane in each direction, and add wider walkways, new lighting and new railings. The City expects it to last 75 years. The Lookout gives December 2027 as the completion date for the $35.6 million project, "well ahead" of the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Construction on the Pier itself is noisier and closer than the sign removal. As of the City's current update, crews are drilling the new bridge's underground foundations. They started at the base of the Pier and are working toward Ocean Avenue. Each hole gets steel reinforcing bars and is filled with concrete.
| What | When | What it means for a weekday visit |
|---|---|---|
| Bridge construction near Ocean and Colorado | Weekdays, 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Drilling and heavy equipment; the City warns it may be loud |
| Moomat Ahiko Way on- and off-ramps | Closed since Monday, Sept. 28, for about two months | Southbound PCH drivers exit at the California Incline or continue on eastbound I-10 to Lincoln Boulevard |
| Ocean Front Walk under the bridge | Short intermittent closures, weekdays 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Flaggers guide pedestrians around the work |
| Pier businesses | Open throughout | Restaurants, shops and attractions stay open |
The ramp closure clears the way to demolish the last and largest section of the old bridge. The City has not announced a reopening date. A separate closure of Appian Way under the bridge was scheduled for Oct. 5 through Oct. 9. For that window, the City pointed drivers to Beach Lot 4 South, Beach Lot 3 North and Parking Structure 8.
The Fall Calendar, Staged Past the Old Gate
The Pier's fall events are set well away from the old entrance. The October Locals' Night is on Thursday, Oct. 15, presented by Pacific Park, and it marks Dogtown's 50th anniversary. Patch's event listing describes it as free and all-ages, running 3:30 to 10 p.m. You need free advance tickets for the drive-in, the chair seating and the skate ramp. Most of it takes place on the Pier Parking Deck:
- Drive-in arrivals on the deck from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
- A skate ramp by Beyond the Board from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., and a classic-car meet from 4 to 8 p.m.
- St. Monica and SAMOHI performing on the main stage at 5 p.m.
- A vinyl DJ set by original Z-Boy Tony Alva at 6:30 p.m.
- Dogtown and Z-Boys on the big screen at 7:30 p.m., then Cycotic Youth at 9 p.m.
Books & Cookies has storytimes at 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. in the Merry Go-Round Building. At the West End, behind Mariasol, Courtney Parsi teaches salsa at 6 p.m., and Chino Espinoza Y Los Dueños Del Son play at 7 p.m. You can add a Pacific Park unlimited-ride wristband and a Pier sticker pack for $40, against a listed retail value of $60.
At the end of the month, the Merry Go-Round Building hosts the Pier's free Día de los Muertos ofrendas. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, and noon to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1. Artist-producer Sylvia Sanchez leads the celebration, with support from the L.A. County Board of Supervisors through its Department of Arts and Culture. The Nov. 1 program opens with a traditional Aztec blessing at the West End at 1 p.m. Santa Monica Ballet Folklórico performs inside the Merry Go-Round at 2 p.m., followed by mariachi and folklórico there at 3 p.m. Ambassador Carlos González Gutiérrez, Consul General of Mexico in Los Angeles, speaks at 4 p.m., and Brotherhood plays the outdoor stage at 4:15 p.m.
For the arch's own story, the Pier runs a free one-hour "Talk Through Pier History" on the last Thursday of each month. It runs 6 to 7 p.m. in the Merry Go-Round Building, and the next one falls on Oct. 29. The paid history walks cost $25 per person and need advance booking. They run on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 10 and as Monday sunset tours, and they still list their meeting point as under the Yacht Harbor sign. The original arch is due to come down this fall, so the half-scale copy by Pier Burger will soon be the only Yacht Harbor sign on the Pier.
At Eric Haskell Group, we see the Pier sign the way we see a well-made house. Its value comes from its history, its craftsmanship and where it stands. If you own a home in Santa Monica and want to understand what its own history and setting are worth, we invite you to Request a Bespoke Valuation.
