The beach stairs at Whale View Point, in the 400 block of Coast Boulevard, were built with money from Ellen Browning Scripps in the 1920s. Project volunteer Bob Evans told the La Jolla Light, in a report published by the San Diego Union-Tribune, "I don't think there has been any maintenance or repair in the last 100 years." Crews were scheduled to work on them from Oct. 14 through Wednesday, Oct. 28, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. They are clearing sand, smoothing the surface with slurry and bonding precast concrete pavers onto the old steps. During the work, surfers and beachgoers were sent to the stairs near the Surf Shack across from 333 Coast Blvd.
The money for that repair came from community fundraising. Volunteers began fundraising after the La Jolla Park Coastal Historic District was celebrated in November 2024. Once the money was secured, they handed the job to a nonprofit called the La Jolla Coastal Conservancy to carry out. This fall, that arrangement explains most of what's changing along La Jolla's coastal walks. It also explains the one big repair that isn't moving.
One Permit Instead of a Permit for Every Job
The conservancy formed in 2025. It was modeled on the partnership between the city and Friends of Coast Walk Trail. Brenda Fake chairs the conservancy and is also president of that trail group, and Bob Evans is its executive director. Its main tool is a three-year right-of-entry permit with an option to renew for two more years. Private groups can then repair city land without starting the approval process from scratch for every project. The permit covers Coast Walk Trail, Scripps Park, South Casa Beach, Wipeout Beach, Cuvier Park and Whale View Point.
Before the conservancy, La Jolla Parks & Beaches did this kind of work too. It raised money and pulled permits one project at a time, which is how the Scripps Park picnic grove got built in 2022. The standing permit removes that repeated paperwork. Even so, Whale View Point took about two years. Parks & Beaches member Melinda Merryweather described the hurdles at the group's Oct. 5 meeting:
"We've talked about it coming up on two years now, and to get all the permissions, the right contractor and the money, it was quite an accomplishment."
The permit cleared the first item on her list. The other two still depend on a check arriving.
What Donated Money Has Paid For Since Late Summer
Most of these jobs cost tens of thousands of dollars, the kind of amount one sponsor or one evening event can cover. Here they are from smallest to largest:
- Two dog-waste stations on Coast Walk Trail, installed Aug. 26. Enhance La Jolla bought them, installed them and will keep them stocked, with the conservancy as a partner.
- The white wooden fence from Goldfish Point to La Jolla Cove. Eagle Scout candidate Ansel Kincaid and three fellow Scouts finished a prototype section with new wood and marine-grade stainless-steel bird wire. OluKai La Jolla provided the first funding, which left a gap of about $13,000, according to lajolla.ca. The Kiwanis Club of La Jolla then offered $8,000 toward that gap.
- Fresh paint on a coastal belvedere and the Whale View Point surf shack, paid for with $20,000 from the BirdStock music festival.
- Four wave-themed benches in Kellogg Park on the east side of the Map of the Grand Canyons of La Jolla, at $30,000 each. The Walter Munk Foundation has one paid for and is looking for three more donors. Foundation president Mary Munk told the Union-Tribune the spot is "where scuba divers set up for their dives and where families like to get set up for a day at the beach."
- Two pelican-topped boulders in the La Jolla Boulevard medians in Bird Rock, one south of the Colima Street roundabout and one north of the Camino de la Costa roundabout. The Bird Rock Community Council is raising at least $50,000 and hopes to reach about $70,000. A $25,000 grant from Vanguard Charitable is covering the pelican sculptures.
The conservancy's invitation-only "Cocktails at the Cove" event on Oct. 1 raised about $70,000 for future projects, more than the fence gap and the BirdStock paint job combined. The new post-and-chain barriers north of Whale View Point came from a public source, a San Diego County Neighborhood Reinvestment Program grant. SoCal Outdoor Services installed them. In Bird Rock, a replacement Canary Island pine for the median beside 5443 La Jolla Blvd. is expected to cost about $30,000. That money comes from the Bird Rock Maintenance Assessment District budget, and the council hopes to have the tree planted by year-end.
The City's Own Fix Runs on a Different Clock
The longest-running project in this story is the one the city manages directly. In January 2018, a car went off Torrey Pines Road and down the hillside into a Coast Walk yard. Concrete K-rail went up soon afterward as a temporary barrier. Construction was first planned to start in winter 2025 and finish in summer 2026. The schedule slipped after crews added exploratory digging to locate underground utilities.
Work began Oct. 6 and is expected to run through March 2027. Palm Engineering is replacing the K-rail with about 420 feet of metal bridge rail between Prospect Place and Coast Walk. The job also includes a new sidewalk, curb and gutter. Here's what that means for the route this winter:
- Work hours are 7 p.m. to 3 a.m., Sunday through Thursday. The northern westbound lane is closed during some of those night shifts.
- The northbound bike lane is closed for the entire project.
- Once the sidewalk closes, walkers use a protected path behind temporary K-rail on the south side of the road, open around the clock. You can cross at Prospect Place or at the mid-block crossing between Amalfi Street and Princess Street.
A little over nine years will separate the crash from the expected finish. The two jobs follow different paths. The guardrail went through city engineering, design and procurement in sequence. The Whale View stairs needed a donor, a contractor and a permit the conservancy already held.
| Project | Who pays | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| Whale View Point stairs | Community fundraising, carried out by the conservancy | Work scheduled Oct. 14 to Oct. 28 |
| Goldfish Point to Cove fence | OluKai La Jolla, Kiwanis Club of La Jolla | Prototype section done; full fence targeted by year-end |
| Kellogg Park benches | Walter Munk Foundation donors | One of four funded; installation hoped for by year-end |
| Bird Rock pelican monuments | Bird Rock Community Council donors, Vanguard Charitable grant | Permit application filed; fundraising |
| Torrey Pines Road guardrail | City of San Diego | Under construction through March 2027 |
| South Casa Beach stairs | Conservancy, still unfunded | Closed since early 2024 |
Where Neighbor Money Runs Out
The South Casa Beach stairs, near the Children's Pool lifeguard tower, show where this model reaches its limit. Storms damaged the bottom of the stairway in early 2024, and the city chained it off. The design has city approval. Under the arrangement, the conservancy pays for everything, including engineering, permits and the construction contract, while the city helps with reviews and inspections.
Fake estimates about $5 million, based on comparable projects. So far, one anonymous donor has pledged up to $100,000, and the conservancy is applying for grants. That estimate is roughly 70 times what this month's gala raised. A June report on lajolla.ca projected design and permitting through 2029, then about a year of construction, with reopening in late 2030.
Girard Avenue Is the Biggest Test of the Model
The Village streetscape is the largest attempt so far to fund public work mostly with private money. The La Jolla Community Foundation's plan for Girard Avenue would add 63 benches, 49 trees, 51 lights and 9,100 square feet of public space, at an estimated cost of $7.43 million. Phase 1, from Prospect Street to Wall Street, is fully funded. About $3 million came from local donors, $1 million from the state and $850,000 from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
That federal grant came with stricter bidding rules, so the foundation had to put the project out to bid again. "We thought we would start construction in August, but this is going to delay us," foundation chair Phyllis Pfeiffer said at a July Enhance La Jolla meeting, as reported in the Union-Tribune. The last start date she gave was January. The foundation's project page says the permit was issued in August 2026 and that the construction timeline would be announced by October 2026. Phase 2, from Wall Street to Silverado, is still raising money, and Enhance La Jolla will handle maintenance after construction.
Girard shows both sides of the model. The donors paid quickly. Then accepting public money brought public bidding rules, which added months.
Dates Before the Year Ends
- Oct. 28: Scheduled last day of the Whale View Point stair work.
- Year-end targets: The rest of the Goldfish Point to Cove fence, the Kellogg Park benches if the last three are funded, and the Bird Rock pine.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: The 70th La Jolla Christmas Parade starts at 1 p.m. at Kline Street and Girard Avenue. The holiday festival runs 1 to 5 p.m. at the La Jolla Recreation Center, 615 Prospect St.
To support any of these projects, you can donate directly at lajollacoastalconservancy.org, waltermunkfoundation.org and the Bird Rock Community Council's monument fund.
At Angie & Danny Dominguez, we follow the block-by-block changes that affect La Jolla homes, from a reopened beach stairway to a rebuilt stretch of Girard. If you'd like to know how the improvements near your street might show up in your home's value, ask us for a free home valuation and consultation.
