Portwood Pier Plaza

Location: Seacoast Drive and Evergreen Ave, Imperial Beach CA (map)
Phone: (619) 423-8300; More info: Website

Pier Plaza Highlights

Portwood Pier Plaza includes shops, an outdoor eating and sitting area, and the formal entrance to the pier and beach. The plaza is located next to Imperial Beach Pier and Dunes Park.

Once a seedy area, the Pier Plaza was redeveloped in recent years, drawing locals and tourists.Standing tall in the center of the Imperial Beach Pier Plaza is the town’s signature public art piece called Surf Henge, created by artist Malcolm Jones. Four giant translucent “surfboard” arches are acrylic surfboards stuck in the sand. At 16-20 feet high, each weighs up to three-quarters of a ton and set against a crimson arch with the city’s name.

Day or night, the glowing shapes cast colored light-shadows onto the plaza. Subtly surrounding Portwood Pier Plaza are low concrete seawalls with the exquisite glass tile work called Illuminations by artist Mary Lynn Dominguez.