Camp Pendleton opens new beach cottages with dedication ceremony

Lance Cpl. Andrew Cortez

Marine Corps Installations West

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

Service members and Southern California residents came together for a dedication ceremony to mark the completion of a project to rebuild and renovate the cottages at San Onofre Beach on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Aug. 15.

The Camp Pendleton Cottages Project was a combined effort between Marine Corps Community Services and several charity organizations to replace beach trailers that were beyond repair with manufactured homes and provide service members with a place to relax.

“When our Marines and sailors get done with their training, get done with their career, when they get done with their day, they now have the opportunity to come here,” said U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. Daniel B. Conley, the commanding general of Marine Corps Installations West, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, during the dedication ceremony. “For our wounded warriors, they now have a place to detach from what may be a pretty hard time in their lives, and this becomes part of their recovery.”

Charities like the San Diego Nice Guys contributed time and money to help rebuild the cottages.

“The Nice Guys have been longtime supporters of the military and their families,” said Jeff Schreiber, the Nice Guys president. “This project is another way to show that we recognize and appreciate those who have sacrificed so much for us.”

Each cottage was built to last, using metal roofs, composite siding and railings, stainless-steel appliances and new furniture. The new cottages offer wider doorways, walk-in showers, bigger patios, and wheelchair accessible doorways to improve the accessibility to get in and out for wounded service members or those with disabilities. In a single year, over 3,200 Marines, sailors and their families will use the cottages on their off time to relax and relieve stress.

“The cottages are a facility where Marines, sailors and their families and friends can take advantage of the beautiful San Onofre Beach,” said Anthony Cisneros, assistant chief of staff for Marine Corps Community Services Camp Pendleton. “If they want to take a break from the day-to-day grind of the Marine Corps or whatever training opportunity they have, this provides it for them.”