The beach fire pits are treasured by many San Diegans who grew up going to bonfires, but the pits were once again facing the budget ax this year.
But Councilman Kevin Faulconer’s office has announced a deal has been reached between the city and several tourism and non-profit organizations to provide funding to clean and maintain the pits this year, about $150,000. Tony Manolatos is a spokesman for Faulconer. He said the group is also working on a long-term solution to preserve the fire pits.
“The fire pits are a part of San Diego. You can’t imagine a San Diego beach without a fire pit,” he said. “The goal would be to make sure we’re not here year after year trying to come up with money to save the fire pits.”
Faulconer’s budget plan calls for private donors to provide about $120,000 toward this year’s maintenance of the pits. That would leave about $30,000 for the city to cover. The San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, the county’s Hotel/Motel Association, the San Diego Foundation and the La Jolla Community Foundation are among the groups working to find funding for the fire pits. The plan will be officially announced at a news conference tomorrow morning.
