It's October, and The Locals are returning to Avila Beach. They have one thing on their minds: Will it be OK?

The answer from many, after wandering the beach and the Avila Pier, seems to be a tentative yes. And when you're talking about a county that dug in its heels and almost unanimously insisted that it didn't want the "funk" taken out of everyone's favorite funky beach town during one of the biggest environmental cleanups on record, that's a big thing.

So when the beach and most of the downtown was dug up a little over a year ago for the massive Unocal oil cleanup known as Project Avila, with some of the town carted off into storage and some never to return.

Them - and about 200,000 other people.

We liked how natural it was before, echoing the thoughts of most Locals.  The Avila Grocery was back in its spot, and some of the "new" Avila was looking OK.

A Bunch of New Stuff

Sandstone boulders placed at the base of the pier to create a faux tidepool, complete with equally faux mollusks, starfish and sea snails realistic enough to make adults do a double-take and little kids try to pick them up and take them home. (You can't - they're cemented in there tight. And yes, they are fake.)

Even if the Avila Grocery isn't open yet, it's a soothing presence - a familiar landmark, sitting right where it used to be, looking mostly the same. So is the Avila Pizza Pantry and the Laundromat and apartment complex next door - also currently empty.

This summer, as Unocal crews put up the restrooms, repaved the streets, brought back the Avila Grocery, and built the Pedestrian Plaza, 

The weather is better here. It's always warm here.

So while Avila was torn down, dug up, and put back together again. You can tell it's not finished yet - but I like all of the décor, and all of the little stuff, the starfish on the concrete planter benches, and children scampering around them.

Locals' Favorite Improvement? Stalls & Soap The only bigger winner in the "Locals Favorite Avila Improvement" contest seems to be the public restrooms. They're still right where they used to be - at the base of the Avila Pier, behind the Avila Beach Yacht Club. (The Yacht Club's back too.)

They look a lot different from the outside. Instead of pale blue stucco, the restrooms are now bright yellow clapboard with white trim - a sort of beach farmhouse look that has some locals grumbling. Until they go inside.

Five - count 'em! - five stalls, stainless steel sinks and - at long last - soap grace the public restrooms. (At least the Ladies Room. There are also two unisex handicapped access bathrooms, and a larger lifeguard's headquarters in the building.

The showers are still there - right where they were. Only now they're on a curving concrete pad that's part of a "stepped down" beach access area.

At both sides of the pier, the curving paths and steps with benches wind down to the sand, making a fun trail for smaller kids and an easier transition to the sand for seniors and others. Regular flights of steps still march down to the beach at periodic intervals along the seawall. The seawall itself is a softer sandstone color, with a railing perfect for people watching.

True, the swing sets on what every Local calls the "family side" of the beach are gone. They'll be moved to a new park and children's play area at the very southern end of Avila Beach, scheduled to be completed in November. A bright red pirate's ship already sits in a sea of sand there.

Pedestrian Plaza Pleases Parents

Another big change is the Pedestrian Plaza itself. The block of Front Street at the base of the pier has been closed off, and turned into a giant sidewalk, complete with planters, benches, Nyssa's favorite tidepool, and a row of palm trees. There are even bike racks designed to look like wooden hitching posts.

Avila purists may be shaking their heads in horror at the vision of the Front Street Pedestrian Plaza - but it was quickly winning over the Local Mom crowd.

With a glance at the new Front Street Pedestrian Plaza, it's easy to see it full of teen-agers and college kids and vacationers in the summer, all strolling back and forth to get ice cream cones and French fries between boogie boarding and suntanning.

But there's the catch: right now, there's no place to stroll to. The Avila Grocery building is back; but it's currently closed and empty. The rest of Avila's downtown is still a shining square of squeaky clean sand.

Will the businesses be back? That's what the Locals want to know - along with the rest of Avila's fans.

The Answer is Yes

The answer is yes, on both counts: Custom House, The Sea Barn and Mr. Rick's will all definitely be back. No one knows for sure yet just what else will rise on the sparkling square of sand that is now downtown Avila Beach. Unocal owns much of the land, and is looking to sell it; the company maintains it does not want to be a landlord or property manager.

But a handful of Avila favorites already have architectural drawings and permit requests in to the San Luis Obispo County Planning Department, and are waiting for the county's OK to rebuild.