Diamond Head After a month of being closed four days a week for improvements, Diamond Head State Monument reopens seven days a week tomorrow.
is ready for
its close-up
The state monument
By Diana Leone
re-opens tomorrow after
completion of park improvements
Star-BulletinEven though there are more viewing areas atop Diamond Head than there used to be, the effect isn't cluttered. It gives a split-level feeling of spaciousness, with room for multiple groups of sight-seers.
It's hard not to be aware of space when you're standing 760 feet above the pounding surf, with a stunning panoramic view of Waikiki, Manoa and Palolo Valleys and the East Oahu coastline. On a clear day you can see Lanai, Molokai and Maui.
Diamond Head, also known as Mount Leahi, is one of Oahu's top visitor attractions, so when the work originally was going to shut down the park entirely for two weeks, the tourist industry howled.
The compromise was to do the work intensively Mondays through Thursdays and let the public in on a three-day weekend. The work begun March 19 is to be completed today. Tomorrow the park resumes its daily 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. hours.
"The regulars" -- local residents who frequent the park for recreation, sometimes twice a day -- "weren't happy with us either, but they understood," said park coordinator Yara Lamadrid-Rose.
Walter Arakaki General Contractors had the $240,000 contract for renovations at the summit. A big chunk of the cost was helicoptering in supplies, said job supervisor Brian Arakaki. Though working conditions on the windy summit turned out to be tougher than expected, he's pleased with the job. "I think it adds a lot of safety and aesthetically it blends in well," he said.
The parking and entrance area got a general sprucing, thanks to park maintenance workers, volunteers and some labor from Oahu Community Correctional Center.
The parking lot is restriped, with space designated for tour buses. The information kiosk, bathrooms and fencing got a bright coat of paint. Trees got a trimming.
On the trail, guard rails were shored up and repaired. Along the hillside, fountain grass, a non-native plant, was sprayed with herbicide because it is a fire hazard.
But to see the park's biggest change, you have to make the almost one-mile trek to the summit. There are now more viewing platforms and all have safer, taller guard railings.
"There are 4 inches between rails, so kids can't put their heads through," pointed out Clyde Hosokawa, state parks program manager. Footing is made safer with paving tiles.
Besides being a geological and scenic wonder, Diamond Head is also a historic site. The trail to the summit was built as part of the U.S. Army Coastal Artillery defense system in 1908. The four level structure at the summit is "an engineering marvel" for its time, said Lamadrid-Rose. And Hawaiians built five heiau in the crater and used the summit for navigational fires.
A master plan for the park hopes to expand more trails, restrooms and parking in the crater, said Hosokawa. Before those plans go forward, the Federal Aviation Administration and National Guard will have to leave their facilities. The FAA is leaving this summer, but the Guard's transfer to the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station could take as long as five years, he said.
The park charges a $1 admission fee. Frequent visitors can buy a year's pass for $10.