Downtown Laguna Beach This Fall: New Plaza, Surf Museum & Events

"You go to the Playhouse, you're in seating," Mayor Mark Orgill told the Daily Pilot the day after the Promenade on Forest's grand opening. "At the promenade, you can listen to music and you can socialize at the same time."

He was describing one plaza. The bigger change is where that plaza now sits. Seven days before the Promenade ribbon cutting on Friday, Sept. 25, the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center held its own opening a short walk away at 239 Broadway. Two long projects finished within a week of each other, and they bracket a small stretch of downtown. Ocean Avenue between Forest and Coast Highway and Beach Street between Broadway and Ocean link the two. The city's published schedule has both streets going to construction bidding in October.

That puts October in an unusual spot. Both anchors are open, the summer crowds have thinned, and the streets between them haven't been fenced off yet.

What changed when Forest stopped being temporary

The lower block of Forest Avenue, from Glenneyre Street to Coast Highway, began in June 2020 as a pandemic pilot. Per the Orange County Register, that temporary plaza cost about $250,000, including $10,000 for security. The permanent version cost $7.2 million, which City Manager Dave Kiff said came in under budget.

The gap between those two figures is the roadway itself. Curbs, sidewalks and parking spaces were removed and replaced with tumbled brick, seating areas and a kelp-forest-inspired fountain. Kiff said decomposed granite in the build should help with drainage. Ailing eucalyptus trees came out this summer, and the new landscaping was chosen to suit a saline environment. The last pieces to arrive included more art, a nautilus bench and bike racks. Local tile artist Marlo Bartels was there on opening night with one of his pieces.

A few things were still unfinished that week. As of Sept. 24, some interior brickwork remained, the Wi-Fi speaker system still needed activation, and the Coast Highway end needed adjustments. The city's Friday-through-Sunday evening music series ran July 10 through Aug. 30, and no recurring fall dates have been posted. Live music on the plaza is occasional for now, which fits Orgill's "from time to time."

The businesses along the plaza have been there much longer. Bushard's Pharmacy, which Joe and Earl Bushard opened in 1946, marked its 80th year the same night as the ribbon cutting. It is still in its original footprint and has never been remodeled. Joe's granddaughter, Marisa Fader, runs it now. Moulin, the Parisian-style cafe next door, marked its 10th year and handed out crepes. Diners filled the umbrella tables at Alessa.

The plaza is also already picking up uses beyond dining. Orgill named reading circles and high school students using it as a meeting space, plus "a couple other groups I see meeting there now."

Inside the old Sprouse Reitz on Broadway

The other anchor sits in a building many longtime locals will remember. SHACC's new home was the 1940s Sprouse Reitz store and later a drugstore. The 12,000-square-foot space was gutted and rebuilt for the collection, which moved here from the hills of San Clemente. The Register calls it the "Smithsonian of Surf," and the move put the world's largest collection of surf history steps from the ocean. Executive Director Jeff Alter summed up opening week simply: "The people are stoked, the city has been great."

Here is what's worth the walk inside:

• Duke Kahanamoku boards. Board member Randy Hild calls them the most special of the hundreds on display. Two were shaped in Corona del Mar.
• A 10-by-16-foot screen for surf films and live events. It streamed the Lexus Trestles Pro on opening day.
• The interactive "Stoke Machine" and an upstairs library and conference area.
• Early cameras, vintage swimwear and displays on how surfing shaped fashion, film and music, plus a gift shop.

Admission is free. SHACC's homepage lists Tuesday through Friday and Sunday hours of 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Mondays closed. This Saturday it closes early at 5 p.m. for a Surf Club rally. The contact page still carries an old "Closed until Summer 2026" line. The homepage hours are the current ones.

The connecting blocks are next

Here is why the timing matters. From the bottom of Forest, Ocean Avenue runs toward Coast Highway, and Beach Street links Ocean to Broadway, where SHACC sits. Those are the two segments in the city's next downtown streetscape project, and the schedule was updated in August 2026.

The planned work covers curb bump-outs for traffic calming, a wider sidewalk on Beach Street, sidewalk replacement and minor drainage improvements. It grew out of conceptual designs that SWA Group drew for Ocean Avenue in March 2025. At a November 2025 town hall, the city described the parking impact of the bump-outs as minimal and said the Beach Street widening would not remove parking there. It also noted that final design would refine those details.

What the city hasn't published yet is a closure map, a construction parking plan or any holiday-season pause. A merchant comment at that town hall raised the burden of fourth-quarter construction. The city logged it as "Noted." These dates are forecasts, and they could slip. If they hold, the walk from the fountain on Forest to the Duke boards on Broadway will soon pass a work zone, so the easy version of that walk is available now.

An October built around those blocks

The fall calendar happens to sit right on top of this new layout. One event that would have used the Festival of Arts grounds is off. The Chamber canceled the Taste of Laguna Food & Music Festival planned for Oct. 1, citing "unforeseen circumstances."

1. Oct. 1, Art Walk. LPAPA shows its Invitational Catalog Art Show.
2. Oct. 3, Laguna Beach Books turns 20. A community event runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 1200 S. Coast Highway.
3. Oct. 3 through Jan. 18, Laguna Art Museum. Kim Manfredi's View with a Grain of Sand.
4. Oct. 3 to 11, the 28th Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational. Thirty invited artists take part, with a Quick Draw on Oct. 4 and a public art festival on Oct. 11.
5. Oct. 4, Classic Car Show & Oktoberfest. Runs 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Forest-Laguna Canyon Road lot, 551 Forest Avenue. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12.
6. Oct. 8, Flea Style grand opening. The hat bar and boutique holds its ribbon cutting from 4 to 6 p.m. at 711 S. Coast Highway.
7. Oct. 16 to 25, Coast Film & Music Festival. The closing weekend at the Irvine Bowl, 650 Laguna Canyon Road, features Rainbow Body on Oct. 23, Ben Harper on Oct. 24 and Amos Lee on Oct. 25. For those three nights, the council suspended the Bowl's 70-dBA sound limit to test directional speakers under independent monitoring.
8. Oct. 27 to Nov. 22, The 39 Steps at Laguna Playhouse. Managing director Adele Adkins said the first performance of each show is pay-what-you-wish.

A few newer stops fill in around downtown. Better Buzz opened its first Laguna cafe at 280 S. Coast Highway on Aug. 28, with a patio and menu items found only at this location. Further south, William Merrill Gallery has reopened at 2950 S. Coast Highway after roughly a decade operating online. It features 17 international artists and is open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The dining side of town keeps changing too. The Deck and Driftwood Kitchen closed Sept. 7 to make way for the Pacific Edge Hotel redevelopment on Sleepy Hollow Lane. Our earlier look at how Laguna's new restaurants split into two camps covers that turnover in more detail.

Getting downtown this month

The off-season trolley schedule started Sept. 8 and runs through June 25, 2027. The Coastal Route is free daily and comes every 20 to 30 minutes. The Canyon Route runs on weekends only, every 30 minutes, from Lot 16 at Act V, 1900 Laguna Canyon Road, where parking costs $5. Lot 16 is closed to the public Monday through Friday.

Two beach-access changes also came up this week:

• Agate and Pearl Street. The Agate Street stairs and viewing deck, along with the nearby Pearl Street stairs, closed after a rockslide on Sept. 29. The city's geologist found no cracks at Agate, and staff are checking the caissons against the construction drawings. No reopening date has been given.
• Aliso Beach. Crews began repairs on the damaged south parking lot on Sept. 29. The city's community development director estimated it could reopen in about two weeks. The outdoor shower will stay off until later repairs.

If you're wondering how the new Forest plaza, the Broadway museum and the work coming to Ocean Avenue will shape your own block over the next year, I'm happy to share what I'm watching downtown. Visit our Laguna Beach neighborhood page or reach out to Erica Lupori. Let's Connect.