Redondo Beach Pier reopens after evacuation that delayed BeachLife
The Redondo Beach Pier reopened Sunday afternoon, hours after police and city officials ordered its evacuation for reasons law enforcement has declined to disclose.
The Redondo Police Department issued its initial evacuation order at about 11 a.m. through the city’s alert system.
“Police Activity on the Pier. Anyone in the area of the pier is requested to evacuate safely,” the statement read. “Catalina [Avenue] between Torrance [Boulevard] and Beryl [Street] are closed. Please stay away from the pier area until further notice.”
The department issued an update on X at 11:57 a.m. saying that the pier would remain closed until further notice.
At 2:21 p.m., the department sent out another message through the city’s alert system saying that police activity had concluded and that pier and its surrounding area were once again open to the public.
Redondo Beach City Councilmember Brad Waller weighed in on the evacuation in the comments section of BeachLife’s initial postponement announcement on Facebook.
“There was a threat made to the pier, and the area was evacuated to allow the police and dogs to clear the area,” Waller wrote. “Police are still going over the pier area and have expanded to BeachLife. There was no threat made to BeachLife, but out of an abundance of caution, they want to ensure that the area is safe before thousands of people enter. The pier area and BeachLife space were searched, and nothing was found. BeachLife should be ready to open and proceed.”
The Times has reached out to the Redondo Beach Police Department for more information.
The evacuation came on the last day of the Redondo Beach-set BeachLife Festival, which was scheduled to open at noon and feature performances by My Morning Jacket, Peach Pit, Sheryl Crow and James Taylor.
In a social media announcement, organizers for the festival said the start of Sunday’s event would be delayed at least an hour.
“Safety comes first. In cooperation with our public safety professionals in the City, out of an abundance of caution, we have coordinated to temporarily delay doors until 1 p.m. due to ongoing police activity on the Redondo Pier near Torrance Boulevard,” BeachLife wrote in the statement.
In a subsequent post that went live at 1:43 p.m., the organization said it had been given the all-clear to open its doors to the public.
“Per the direction of local safety officials, we have been given the go ahead to safely open doors momentarily,” the statement said. “We appreciate the patience from our community and look forward to a wonderful of day of sun, fun, and great music.”