Historic Waikiki
trees to be felled

Ironwoods along Kalakaua
Avenue will be replaced by
younger, healthier ones

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

The city will remove 46 ironwood trees, planted more than 100 years ago by the father of a princess, along the Diamond Head end of Kalakaua Avenue in Kapiolani Park.

The city says the 50-foot trees are decaying and dying. They are among 250 that were planted by Archibald Cleghorn, Princess Kaiulani's father, around 1890. They line the sidewalks and median of Kalakaua Avenue between Monsarrat Avenue and the Dillingham Fountain.

The city will plant 100 new, 10-foot ironwoods in their place, said Stan Oka, the city Parks Department's beautification expert.

The new trees are being purchased through funding by the estate of Alice Spalding Bowen, who set aside $50,000 to be used specifically for beautification projects in Waikiki.

By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Roots of trees along Kalakaua Avenue are cut and damaged.
Such trees, including the one above, are to be cut
down beginning Monday.

The work is scheduled to begin Monday and last through the end of next week. Oka said Kalakaua Avenue will not be completely closed, but parking may be limited until the trees are removed. He urged motorists and pedestrians to try and avoid the area next week.

"To remove a tree is not an easy thing to do -- especially trees that are this old, historic and have a special meaning to a lot of people in Hawaii," Oka said.

"But we realize that some of the trees have gotten to the point where they may pose a hazard toward people who use the park."

Independent arborists helped advise the city on which trees to remove both by visible and sound checks. Most are hollow, have root damage or both, Oka said.

The project has the support of the Outdoor Circle, the Kapiolani Park Preservation Society and the Mayor's Arborist Advisory Committee, although for some that endorsement comes with reservations.

Allen Voronaeff of the Kapiolani Park Preservation Society said cutting the trees is a "Band-Aid" approach and that the city would not need to remove as many ironwoods if it had taken better care of them. He said the trees can have a life span of several centuries.

In the past the trees were not properly watered or fertilized, Voronaeff said.

A 1968 master plan of Kapiolani Park called for the makai side of Kalakaua, between Monsarrat and Dillingham Fountain, to be a pedestrian promenade to protect the trees, he said.

Michelle Spalding Matson, Bowen's granddaughter, said the trees were subject to "mutilation" when the city trimmed off their tops in the mid-1980s.

"They've been neglected and chopped and abused," Matson said.

"Obviously, we're removing a lot of trees that would be unnecessary had they been cared for properly."