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Dolphin WAILUKU -- The Dolphin Institute plans to move from Kewalo Basin to a new facility on Maui.
Institute
to move
The Kewalo Basin facility will
shift to a site on Maui planned
by the Weinberg FoundationBy Gary Kubota
Maui correspondentThe Oahu-based scientific institute that studies dolphin behavior is preparing to relocate to a site in Kihei that includes a one-acre lagoon at the Maui Nui Park being planned by the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.
The park site on more than 29 acres owned by the foundation is mauka of Suda Store, bordering South Kihei Road, Mokulele Highway, Piilani Highway and Uwapo Road.
Dr. Adam Pak, the institute's vice president, said that once on Maui, his organization plans to expand its staff of 25 people, including part-time workers and volunteers.The Institute has four dolphins living in small tanks on the quarter-acre laboratory at Kewalo Basin.
Weinberg officials will be discussing their plans for the proposed park at a Kihei Community Association meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Kihei Community Center on Lipoa Street.
To move forward with the project, Weinberg officials will need to obtain a number of government approvals, including a shoreline permit from the Maui Planning Commission.
A public hearing before commissioners is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Kihei Community Center.
Association official Barney Eiting said he sees the project as beneficial to the community because of its educational aspect.
"In the world, they are the leading research center in dolphins and whales," Eiting said. "It's going to be a real positive improvement on Maui."
Pak said the institute will continue to focus its efforts on research and that its relocation to a larger site will help in expanding its experiments in communications with dolphins.
In association with the University of Hawaii, Pak said, the laboratory plans to continue to help graduate students obtain master's degrees and doctorates. It has been involved in the publication of more than 130 research papers.
The Institute is a nonprofit group supporting research at the Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory, which has been studying whales and dolphins for more than 25 years.
Weinberg officials want to develop buildings featuring various exhibits of natural phenomena such as volcanoes and tsunamis. The complexes also include retail and specialty shops.
Weinberg officials plan to start construction in late 2000 and complete the building in late 2001.
If the Institute moves, the state would level the current facility at Kewalo Basin and landscape the area.
It would become an extension of Ala Moana Park and Kewalo Basin, said Jan Yokota, the executive director of the Hawaii Community Development Authority.
Reporter Leila Fujimori contributed to this article.