VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Virginia Beach fishing pier remained closed Friday, Feb. 2, nearly a week after a car dramatically drove off it into the ocean.
With the car removed Friday morning, what's next for the pier, an icon of the oceanfront?
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Businesses News 3 talked to say the pier is important for their bottom line.
Late Friday morning, the T-Shirt Factory on Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach was quiet as Ishesh Amatya worked, but he knows the shop can get very busy, especially being almost within eyesight of the fishing pier.
“I consider the pier a very important tourist destination because it attracts a lot of tourists and fishermen of course, even during the off-season," Amatya said.
Whether the pier was damaged by the car driving on it was unknown Friday.
News 3 looked into what the next steps are to find out.
According to the city of Virginia Beach, a city code enforcement officer will inspect the pier to determine if a structural engineer needs to be called in.
The owner of the pier would then be responsible for bringing in the engineer to determine what work needs to be done and then have that work done.
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The code enforcement officer would then follow up to make sure what needs to be done was actually done according to the engineer’s report.
Amatya said he supports closing the pier to make it safe, but he's conflicted.
“I also feel bad at the same time that we’re losing businesses or tourists losing their limited spots for the winter," Amatya explained.
The pier has been damaged before.
After a Noreaster in 2009, A large portion of the pier was swept away.
After Hurricane Irene in 2011, some boards that formed the walking surface were ripped off and part of the railing was gone.
News 3 did reach out to Virginia Beach Friday to try to find out if a code enforcement officer had inspected the pier, if so what they found, and if not when they will inspect the pier but the city was not able to answer those questions.
