Jennette’s Pier closing for upgrades

New high-tech planks being added to Jennette’s Pier.

Anglers and visitors to Jennette’s Pier, located on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, will get a treat come spring. The pier is getting some upgrades, and they are already underway.

Last month, the very end of the pier past the flare was closed to visitors in order to replace the pier’s observation platform with a bigger one.

The new platform will “allow the Coastal Studies Institute to install more and larger observation equipment,” said Mike Remige, director of Jennette’s Pier.

The weather information gathered from instruments on the pier can be seen in real time on the pier house monitor, or online at ncaquariums.com/current-conditions.

Once the new platform is installed, the pier will begin replacing the planks of the pier.

Each deck plank will be replaced with a fiber-reinforced polymer plank. These are designed to withstand the harsh coastal environment, which quickly takes a toll on natural materials.

“At the end of January, large sections of the pier will close for the replacement of the planks,” said Remige.

The end of the pier will remain closed into the spring, but the rest of the pier, staff hopes, will remain open while the planks are replaced section-by-section. For a brief time, they said, the entie pier will be closed.

The plan is for all renovations to be completed in May, just in time for the spring fishing season.