"People like being outdoors in California, so it provides a wonderful outdoor social space that can also be used for entertainment from time to time." That is how Mayor Mark Orgill described the Promenade on Forest the day after its September 25 dedication. The phrase "from time to time" fits the next two months well.
The city held the ribbon-cutting in late September even though the plaza had been finished for more than a month. Orgill said the timing was meant to come "before we get into the fall and winter months where we start to have hospitality night and some of the other events." Look at what's actually scheduled between now and then, and the answer to what the Promenade is for this fall is clear. Most nights it will be an outdoor dining room and a place to sit, held up by the businesses along it. The stage will see occasional use.
A Stage Built Into the Pavement
The design treats performance as a permanent feature. The approved plans for lower Forest Avenue, which runs from Glenneyre Street to Coast Highway and is now closed to cars full-time, include permeable brick paving, landscaped beds, seating and dining areas, wider walkways along the storefronts, new lighting, and dedicated performance areas. A fountain inspired by kelp forests anchors the streetscape. The OC Register also listed art pieces, a nautilus bench and bike racks. As of late September, the built-in Wi-Fi speaker system was still waiting to be switched on during final touches.
The cost figure depends on which report you read. The OC Register put the total at $7.2 million and quoted City Manager Dave Kiff as saying the project came in under budget. The Daily Pilot reported a $5.5 million construction contract with Superb Engineering, awarded in January, inside an estimated $7.3 million conversion. Both put the cost a little over $7 million.
The city used the stage heavily over the summer. Its live music series ran from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from July 10 through August 30. That was three evenings a week for eight weeks. That series is over, and no recurring fall or winter music schedule has been published to replace it.
The Block That Holds It Up Between Shows
When nothing is on the stage, the Promenade is the storefronts along it. The street closure started in 2020 as a pandemic pilot to help downtown businesses. The tenants that made it through that period are the ones carrying the plaza now:
- Brussels Bistro at 222 Forest Ave.
- 230 Forest Avenue, the restaurant named for its address
- Alessa by Chef Pirozzi at 234 Forest Ave.
- Bushard's Pharmacy & Apothecary at 244 Forest Avenue
- Moulin, the cafe listed at 248 Forest Ave. in the Laguna Beach Independent's directory. One October event guide gives it a different address, so confirm before you go.
Two of these businesses had their own reasons to celebrate at the dedication. Bushard's Pharmacy marked 80 years, and Moulin marked 10. They shared a birthday cake at the opening. A pharmacy that has served downtown since the 1940s is now one of the anchors of a pedestrian plaza.
On opening night, diners sat at tables under umbrellas while the 133 Band played. The couple told the Independent they planned to stay for the ribbon-cutting, visit the surf museum "because it's open now," and "maybe grab a bite at Alessa if we can find a table." Planning commissioner and artist George Dubin, who helped get the project built, described an even quieter routine: "I come down here and sit and just enjoy watching the sun go down." Sculptor Gerard Basil Stripling put it in one line: "this is now our piazza."
The shade will take longer. The city plans more than 30 trees for the Promenade area and says the new canopy will take time to provide real cover. For now, the umbrellas do that job.
A Free Museum Around the Corner
The Promenade's newest neighbor opened a week before the Promenade dedication. The Surfing Heritage and Culture Center held its ribbon-cutting on Friday, September 18, followed by a public open house the next day.
SHACC is free and open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Mondays. Hours may change for special events, and from October 17 to 25 the center is open only to Coast Film Festival ticket holders. News coverage gives its address as 239 Broadway St., but SHACC's own visitor page lists 232 Ocean Ave. as the main entrance and parking address, so use that one for directions.
The galleries follow surfboard design and surf history from Hawaii through California and into later eras, with displays on competition, surf shops, fashion, movies, music and oceanography. Upstairs is a public library and archive of books, magazines, photographs and films, along with an interactive "Stoke Machine" that explains how waves work. The collection holds about 80,000 objects, including 2,400 boards, 12,000 magazines and more than 60,000 photographs. Many visits will go from a SHACC afternoon to an early dinner on Forest, on nights when nothing is on the stage at all.
The Fall Calendar, Read From Forest Avenue
Here is what's confirmed between now and the end of the year, sorted by how much of it actually happens on the Promenade.
| Date | Event | Where it happens |
|---|---|---|
| Wed., Oct. 7 | Forest Under the Lights, free music by Anesha Rose, 6 to 8 p.m. | On the Promenade |
| Oct. 16 to 25 | Coast Film & Music Festival, with closing concerts at the Irvine Bowl Oct. 23 to 25 | Around town |
| Nov. 1 to 9 | Laguna Art Museum's Art + Nature Celebration Week | Around town |
| Thurs., Nov. 5 and Dec. 3 | First Thursdays Art Walk, 6 to 9 p.m. | Galleries citywide |
| Nov. 20 to Dec. 20, weekends | Sawdust Winter Fantasy | Sawdust grounds |
| Fri., Dec. 4 | Hospitality Night, about 5 to 9 p.m. | Forest Avenue main stage |
Only two rows are Promenade events. At Forest Under the Lights, cocktails and shopping start at 5:30 p.m. and the music is free with no reservation. Four restaurants, 230 Forest, Alessa, Moulin and Brussels Bistro, will also serve community-table dinners that need a reservation and cost extra. That arrangement says the most about how the plaza will run this season. The free music draws people in, and the restaurants carry the evening.
Hospitality Night closes out the year. The city's schedule starts in the Peppertree Lot, sets the tree lighting for 6:10 p.m., and places Anneliese School and evening live music on the Forest Avenue main stage. The city still calls that run of show tentative. The two Art Walk Thursdays aren't Promenade events, but they bring foot traffic past Forest on the way between galleries. Laguna Art Museum is free from 5 to 9 p.m. on those nights, and extended free trolley service runs.
Getting There Without the Curb Spaces
The plaza replaced roadway and curb parking. An OC Register report from January 19, published a few weeks before construction started, said the closure would remove 48 parking spaces. The nearest city lots are the Peppertree Lot at 322 Forest Avenue, with 36 spaces, and the Broadway Lot at 234 Broadway Street, with 25.
The trolley is the easier option. The city's off-season schedule runs from September 8, 2026, to June 25, 2027, with a free Coastal route, a weekend Canyon route, and Laguna Local on-demand rides from the neighborhoods. On Hospitality Night, free trolley and on-demand service will run from 4 to 11 p.m. SHACC's visitor page still describes summer-only trolley service, so check the city's schedule instead.
The Next Block Is Already on the Agenda
The Promenade is part of a larger plan. Orgill traced it to Vision 2030, a community plan from 27 years ago that called for turning Forest Avenue into a downtown social space. He said more than 2,000 people took part in the visioning, and the Coastal Commission approved the project unanimously.
The next phase sits a block away. The city's Ocean Avenue and Beach Street streetscape proposal includes curb extensions to slow traffic, a wider Beach Street sidewalk, new sidewalks and minor drainage work. A public town hall is set for Tuesday, October 20, at 5 p.m., and construction is currently scheduled for fall 2027. SHACC lists its visitor entrance on Ocean Avenue, the same street this project would redesign.
Downtown changes like a car-free plaza, a free museum and a redesigned Ocean Avenue affect how people value the homes within walking distance. If you own near downtown Laguna and want to know how these changes might register in your home's value, Wasilik Klimenko offers a free home valuation. Our team handles the sale, the loan and escrow in one place, so the same people can answer your questions from start to finish.
