Pismo Beach removes beloved Shell Beach bench. What will happen to it?
The beloved bench at Margo Dodd Park in Shell Beach was quietly removed and will be relocated, a Pismo Beach city official confirmed to The Tribune.
The bench was removed via crane Wednesday, city spokesperson Jorge Garcia said in an email to The Tribune.
“It was becoming an attractive nuisance and posed a danger to the community,” Garcia said.
The bench is “safely secured offsite” until the city finds a new place for it, Garcia said.
The bench was in danger of falling to the beach below after a crack was spotted in the area in early January before growing substantially when the Jan. 9 and 10 atmospheric river storms hit the Central Coast.
The bench holds countless memories for community members and visitors alike, with several Tribune readers sharing their stories.
Susan Geach had just lost her brother, mother and father in the two years before she moved in Shell Beach in 2010.
“Every evening I sat in that bench and said goodbye to the people I loved most, prayed for forgiveness and found solace and peace in its existence,” Geach wrote in a Facebook message before the bench was removed. “I feel like I am watching yet another death of a family member unfold in front of me.”
The bench is also where the local music group Jam Fam, originated. The group regularly gathered at the bench, and eventually welcomed Denise Smart, mother of slain Cal Poly student Kristin Smart, into their community.
“The outreach and love (the Jam Fam) shared made me feel welcome, and they 100% understood the pain we were carrying,” Smart said. “The Shell Beach community through Jam Fam really did give us hope that people cared and that they wanted answers as much as we did.”
“Your Own Backyard” podcast host Chris Lambert, who has been credited with helping crack Kristin Smart’s case, also met Denise Smart for the first time at the bench during a Jam Fam jam session.
“I would say that that day is one of the biggest moments of my entire life, really,” the podcaster said. “It’s like so many things came together in that moment and at that spot that have completely changed my life forever.
