Walk the boardwalk past Belmont Park this month and you're standing between two separate construction stories, both playing out on roughly the same three hundred feet of sand. One is a century-old amusement park spending an estimated $20 million to tear down its own walls and rebuild the good times. The other is the lifeguard tower next door, the busiest station on San Diego's coastline, which received $1 million for repairs after the City Council declared an emergency.
The two projects have followed different funding and construction timelines. Belmont Park's privately funded renovation is moving through approvals, while the tower's public repair process included two structural inspections, a Council emergency declaration, and more than a year before a temporary fix was in place.
The Belmont Park Money
Belmont Park has anchored this stretch of boardwalk since July 4, 1925, and its Giant Dipper, a wooden coaster that's a National Historic Landmark, hits 48 miles per hour across a 2,600-foot track with a 75-foot drop. The ride closed for about six weeks this winter for a $1.6 million rehabilitation that replaced sections of aging wood track, then quietly came back online in March with a public celebration timed to the Belmont in Bloom festival in April. It marked its 101st birthday this past July.
That rehab was the smaller story. Owner PE Management Group, which has run Belmont Park since 2012, is now pursuing an estimated $20 million overhaul built around an open-air concept staff are calling a "barcade," tearing down the walls between the arcade, the midway, and the beach so guests can play vintage games with a drink in hand and a straight sightline to the sand. The longtime Beach House restaurant, known for decades of grab-and-go pizza on a sandy floor, is being gutted and reworked with decorative concrete, patios, and small pools. Draft House Belmont Park and Belmonty's Burgers have already joined the food lineup, and a kids' zone called Shipwreck Cove, which opened near the Giant Dipper around December, is a preview of the free-play additions the bigger buildout will bring.
In a CBS 8 report, Steve Thomas, PEMG's president of business operations, said: "We love the beach and that is who Belmont Park is." The project still needs sign-off from the California Coastal Commission and the city, with a groundbreaking targeted for this year and an opening projected for 2027. In the meantime, Belmont's newer Fit Social Club hosted Renew on August 2, a first-year wellness festival with yoga, cold plunges, and a set from electronic duo Big Gigantic that had been expected to draw 2,000 people, another sign the park is stretching past rides and pizza slices into something closer to a full events venue.
The Lifeguard Tower Project
Walk fifty yards south and you'll find the Mission Beach Lifeguard Tower, built in 1982 on Ocean Front Walk right next to Belmont Park. It covers both Mission Bay and Mission Beach and handles more rescues than any other station in the county, an average of 69,500 preventative contacts and 1,500 water rescues a year, according to city figures. It is also, by the city's own engineering assessment, close to falling apart.
According to a FOX 5 San Diego report, a May 2024 structural evaluation found the tower needed "immediate hazard mitigation." A follow-up inspection that November turned up rusted framing, corroded pipe supports, and concrete separating from the metal underneath, the kind of damage that raises real questions about falling debris on a boardwalk this busy. It took until spring 2025 for the City Council to declare an emergency and free up $1 million for stopgap repairs. Mission Beach Town Council member Matt Gardner didn't mince words in the report describing what he'd seen: "the condition of the tower is atrocious."
Even with emergency money approved, the fix took another year to show up on the sand. Crews fenced off the old tower in mid-March 2026 and began building a temporary metal structure and office trailer just north of it, closing the Ventura Place roundabout and part of the boardwalk on weekdays and routing foot traffic onto a temporary walkway laid across the sand. That closure lifted before Memorial Day, right on the city's timeline, and lifeguards moved into the temporary tower in time for peak season.
A permanent fix is a much bigger lift. As of a mid-June update, the city had identified $13.4 million toward the roughly $25 million needed for a new station with locker rooms, a gym, and a garage, leaving an $11.6 million gap with no completion date attached. The stopgap work alone, stabilizing the old structure and building the temporary tower and trailer, ran close to $4 million on its own. For comparison, Pacific Beach's lifeguard station was renovated back in 2016, and La Jolla Shores' tower was rebuilt about 12 years ago. The Mission Beach station is still awaiting its permanent replacement.
Two Projects, Two Timelines
- Belmont Park's barcade and dining overhaul: privately funded, pending Coastal Commission approval, groundbreaking targeted for this year, opening projected for 2027.
- The lifeguard tower's permanent replacement: publicly funded, $13.4 million identified against a $25 million need as of June 2026, an $11.6 million gap still open.
The figures mark different stages of work: Belmont's overhaul is still in the approval process, while the tower's temporary structure is already serving lifeguards as the city pursues a permanent replacement.
What You'll Actually Notice This Summer
The practical changes on the ground are smaller than the dollar figures suggest. Fire pits near Belmont Park run first-come, first-served from 5 a.m. to midnight, wood or charcoal only, and on a summer weekend they're usually claimed by early afternoon. Dogs still aren't allowed on the Mission Beach sand or boardwalk. The nearest legal spot for that is Ocean Beach's Dog Beach, about three miles south. Alcohol and glass are still barred from the sand and the adjacent lots, though the restaurant and bar patios along the boardwalk are fair game.
Look further out on the calendar and Mission Bayfest runs October 16 through 18 at Mariner's Point Park, a reliable marker for when the crowds start to thin while the water still holds its summer warmth.
The Projects Along the Boardwalk
Belmont Park's renovation is the version of Mission Beach that shows up in photos this year: a smoother coaster, an open-air barcade on the way, a wellness festival with a name act. The lifeguard tower's renovation is the version that shows up in a city budget document: a temporary metal structure that's likely to stay put for a while, because the last $11.6 million hasn't found a home yet.
Both are part of what it means to spend a summer near this boardwalk right now. One is a private park renovation. The other is a public lifeguard-station project still awaiting full funding.
Travis Chatwin and the team at Beach and Sun Homes keep tabs on stories like this because we live in these neighborhoods, not just work in them. If you want a local's read on Mission Beach or any other corner of North County San Diego, Schedule a Call.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
