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By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Mayor Jeremy Harris gives salt water he collected in a huewai
gourd to Kahu John Keola Lake this morning. The water was
used by Lake in a blessing to mark the first phase
of Kuhio Beach improvements.

Ceremonies
mark Kuhio
Beach upgrade

The improvements were made
to restore the charm and romance
of old Waikiki, the mayor says

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By Treena Shapiro
Star-Bulletin

Kuhio Beach was blessed and cleansed early this morning in anticipation of the end of the first phase of the city's controversial beach expansion project.

By Saturday, the heavy machinery, mounds of sand and plastic fences that have marred the main stretch of Waikiki's Kuhio Beach will have moved on, leaving behind a park with palm trees, flowers, grassy knolls and meandering walkways, artificial waterfalls and tide pools, a hula mound and a new set of bathrooms.

By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Kahu John Keola Lake, right, leads the blessing ceremony today.

A lane of Kalakaua Avenue was lost to the beach expansion to make way for the new features.

The improvements are meant to be reminiscent of the charm and romance of historic Waikiki, according to Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris.

On Saturday, a concert at the new hula mound will mark the beginning of nightly cultural entertainment.

Surveying the new park yesterday, Harris said he was tickled with the improvements. "It was so junky before. It was an embarrassment."

Beachgoers yesterday expressed pleasure with the improvements and as soon as the barriers were down, they began spreading towels onto the freshly laid grass.

Kevin Kim, 38, of Nuuanu, pronounced the new park "excellent."

TIME TO CELEBRATE A public concert Saturday at the new Kuhio Beach stage will celebrate the completion of the first phase of the Kuhio Beach expansion project. Local-style food and beverages will be available at the concession stand and a food booth close to the stage. The schedule: 5 p.m.: Kimo Kahoano, Master of Ceremonies 5:05 p.m.: Sonny Ching's Halau (Kahiko) 5:20 p.m.: Sistah Robi Kahakalau & Friends 6:10 p.m.: Halau Hula Olana 6:40 p.m.: Ale'a 7:30 p.m.: Hula Halau O Maiki 8 p.m.: Pure Heart 9 p.m.: Makaha Sons, Moon John & Jerome with a cameo appearance by a surprise guest artist 10 p.m.: Hawaii Aloha

"When I was a kid . . . I used to stomp these beaches every night. I remember this place when it was run down," he said.

Winnie Niuelua, of Kaimuki, said at first the construction affected his surf and boogie board rentals and lessons, particularly when a large portion of the beach was fenced in. "But now it's all good," he said.

"It looks nice."

However, nearby merchants say the construction that temporarily closed the sidewalk fronting their stores hurt their business for several months, and one store manager complained that sales still haven't rebounded.

"People never really walk down this side anymore," said Mika Mano, manager of Agatha jewelry store a few doors away from the new Waikiki police substation.

Although the sidewalk fronting the store is now open to pedestrian traffic, Mano said the project created a new obstruction by placing newspaper stands in front of the store.

"People crossing the street can't see the (window) display," she said. Since they don't know what the store sells, they don't come in.

A few doors down, however, Island Logo said profits increased 47 percent in June and July from a year before, although manager Ted Zahar credits that to the new summer line rather than the beach improvements.

For more than six months, sales were down 30 percent when pedestrian traffic in front of the store was blocked by construction, dust and noise, he said.

When the city ripped out and replaced the sidewalk in front of his store, "that destroyed me for a long time."

Courtesy of Carol Costa, City and County of Honolulu
Wider sidewalks with more trees and greenery along with hula
performances are all part of the city's plan to bring
culture and romance back to Waikiki.

While Zahar said the project has gone on too long, he said the new park is an improvement. And while the city will continue to close at least one lane of Kalakaua Avenue to continue erecting "antiqued" traffic signals and street lights, Zahar called that a "necessary evil."

Pointing to the brown modular traffic signals put up 15 years ago, he said, "We have to get rid of those ugly things over there."

The $15 million project has taken a year to complete, down from the original 18-month projection, but a month past the compressed schedule, Harris said.

The delay was caused when the concurrent Board of Water Supply water main replacements along Kalakaua Avenue unearthed 37 sets of ancestral Hawaiian remains.

Under the advisement of Kahu John Keola Lake, this morning's blessing was to include purifying the beach with salt water from the breaking surf, brought in on canoe.

On Saturday, a public concert will mark the end of the first phase of construction, through the beach across from Liliuokalani Street. The final improvements, which will extend to the Kapahulu groin, will be completed next month.