City scales back
Hanauma plans

The new proposal would cost
less and ditches the cable
ride up Koko Crater

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve would get a face lift under a new $9.9 million plan released by the city.

The plan comes less than three months after a more ambitious $13 million proposal that included major changes to Koko Crater was scrapped following community outcry.

The new plan includes:

A marine education center and snack bar in the upper area of the preserve.
Demolition of the existing snack bar and concession building in the lower area.
Replacement and upgrade of other existing facilities in the lower and upper areas, in part to improve landscaping and erosion control.
Improved beach tram loading and turnaround areas.

The only change occurring on the Koko Crater side would be demolition of between 20 and 40 structures that formerly made up the Hawaii Job Corp Center.

A public hearing on the new plan is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Sept. 7 at the Hawaii Kai Public Library.

Mayor Jeremy Harris in June announced he was ditching a proposal for an all-encompassing Koko Head Regional Park and Nature Preserve in response to community complaints.

The most eye-opening feature of that proposal -- a cable-car ride up to Koko Crater -- drew comparisons to Disneyland from irate residents.

The former plan also barred all public parking at Hanauma in favor of redirecting vehicles to the Job Corp site, where visitors would have gone to an educational center before catching a shuttle to the bay.

While the old proposal may have discouraged more visitors to Hanauma, the new plan seeks to preserve underwater resources simply through education, said plan architect Ralph Portmore of Group 70 International.

All visitors, including residents, would have to complete one session of resource awareness training before being allowed into the bay.

"The idea is, rather than cut the number of people using the bay, reduce the individual impacts on the bay by educating people on how they can use it without damaging it," Portmore said.

The plan was based on suggestions made by the Hanauma Bay Improvements Task Force, which was formed by Harris after the former proposal was killed.

The task force may yet come up with other recommendations after a carrying-capacity study of the bay, expected next year, is completed.