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The numbers painted on lifeguard towers have become landmarks for the locals, representing a beloved space on the sand, where friends have gathered and memories were made through the years.

So when the tower numbers suddenly changed at Doheny State Beach earlier this year, a petition was created asking State Parks officials to reconsider – and their plea worked.

Lifeguard towers this week were returned back to their historical numbering, employees putting up replacement decals just before the busy beach season begins.

Doheny surfer Debbie Simons was elated to see the big 12 put back on the blue lifeguard tower that sits in front of the popular surf break. She’s part of the tight-knit Tower 12 Crew, as they are dubbed, who gather regularly to ride the rolling waves at the Dana Point beach.

“It’s going to feel like we got our home back. It was great it paid off,” she said of the effort to save the original numbers. “It’s a feel-good moment here.”

The tower numbers changed in February, prompting Mike Foster, owner of Killer Dana Surf Shop, to create the petition.

Foster has been hanging at Tower 7 for decades, learning to surf at the spot just south of the Doheny State Beach campgrounds.

For him and others, the beach is an ever-changing landscape, they said, but the lifeguard tower numbers have been a constant through the years.

The tower renumbering project was initiated to resolves issues such as duplicate numbering with other agencies and to ensure efficiency, State Parks officials said.

Scott Kibbey, State Parks south sector superintendent, said there was a lot of input from the community about the change and ultimately they decided to “revert the lifeguard towers back the historical format we’ve used in the park for many decades.”

“Ultimately, our goal is to increase the operational efficiency of our park,” he said. “The towering renumbering project fell short of our expectations of it.”

Foster said he was impressed the State Parks officials listened to the community and also by how the community members rallied for something they felt was important.

“It would have been easy for them to just keep them. The fact that they didn’t says a lot,” Foster said. “Everyone came together, they listened to the community and it was a successful campaign.”

Through the process, Foster heard countless memories from people who supported keeping the historic numbering.

“It’s just been a really cool thing, so many people telling me how much it meant to them. I think it touched so many people, selfishly I started it off on my emotion and memories,” Foster said. “I think there’s thousands of people who have emotional ties. I think it’s an incredible thing.

“We’ve kept the history of Dana Point to what it is,” he said. “We’ve locked it in. That’s the cool thing.”

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