Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
People wonder ... WAIMEA Valley on Oahu's North Shore, with rugged gorges, steep ridges, caves and pointed bluffs, is rich in the history and the traditions of Hawaii.
$25 million? $5 million?
What will the city pay for the
North Shore valley?By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin"There is food, shelter, and the river is a perennial supply of fresh water. The fishing must have been great," said Bob Leinau, Waimea Valley Adventure Park historian. "The area can be described as a microcosm of whatever happened in Hawaiian history."
At issue is whether a public-private partnership could run the current restaurant and retail visitor operations while preserving the rest of the lush valley.
Only 300 acres of the 1,875-acre valley are developed and occupied by Waimea Valley Adventure Park -- with cultural games and waterfalls -- and a botanical garden.
City Councilwoman Rene Mansho wants the city to purchase the valley, which New York investor Christian Wolffer has had on the market for $25 million since July.A current appraisal would be needed since city Deputy Managing Director Malcolm Tom said that for tax purposes the conservation land is valued at $5.1 million.
Mayor Jeremy Harris favors purchasing the park "if the price is right," said city spokeswoman Carol Costa. She said Harris intends to visit it within the next week to see specifically what is there.
Kai McDurmin, agent for Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties representing Wolffer, said a "couple of interesting parties" have expressed interest in the property.
Supporting the sale to the city are the Outdoor Circle, the Historic Hawaii Foundation and the 148-member staff of the Waimea Valley Adventure Park, which occupies the only developed part of the valley.
Archaeological evidence points to habitation there several centuries ago.
Taro, bananas, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, breadfruit, mountain apples, oranges and coconuts flourished in the rich valley soil.
Religious temples were built on the banks of the Waimea River. The remains of two major heiaus -- Kupopolo on the Haleiwa side and Puu O Mahuka on the opposing Pupukea bluff -- still exist today. Puu O Mahuka Heiau is the largest sacrificial temple on Oahu.
The walls of the surrounding canyons are riddled with burial caves.
Leinau pointed out that in 1092 the ahupuaa (land division running running from the mountain to the sea) of Waimea was given to the kahuna (priest) of Oahu by Kamapuaa, the island's ruling chief. The kahuna held the land until the 1770s, when Kahahana became the ruling chief and gave it to his kahana nui (high priest), Kaopulupulu.
WAIMEA VALLEY FACTS
Size: 1,875 acres, only 300 acres developed as park
Leinau points out that the first recorded drawing of Waimea Bay now hangs in the Bishop Museum. It was sketched on Feb. 27, 1779, when the HMS Discovery and the HMS Resolution stopped to replenish their water supplies after leaving Kealakekua Bay, where British Capt. James Cook had been killed.
For the next half-century, control of Waimea changed hands after Maui's ruling chief invaded Oahu and later when Kamehameha I consolidated control of the islands.
The rule of the kahana nuis ended in 1837, and what followed was a succession of private ownership with the adoption of several land commission awards, including the Great Mahele.
Lots of fishing and farming took place during the 19th century; for instance, crops grown in Waimea were sold in California during Gold Rush days.
But floods, droughts and other natural disasters eventually forced out most farmers. By the 1900s only a few Japanese farmers worked the land.
Castle & Cooke, through its Waialua Sugar subsidiary, bought the 1,875-acre valley in 1929 from the territorial government and leased the land for a cattle ranch.
By 1960, other uses for the area were contemplated as the Waimea Falls Ranch and Stables was charging 50 cents for parking and 75 cents for a stagecoach ride to the 45-foot falls located a mile in the valley.
In 1971 the valley was sold to Bishop Corp., which is not affiliated with Bishop Estate, for $355,000. From 1971 through 1996, ownership of the valley has been held by different members of the Pietsch family under various restructuring plans.
Nine years ago, Bishop Corp. proposed spending $200,000 in implementing a master plan to develop the entire valley into a privately owned recreational area, doubling its visitor operation to 250,000.
Despite opposition from environmentalists and other community organizations, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources over a 10-year period approved expanded recreational use of a small part of the valley.
Wolffer bought the valley, which includes the adventure park, in October 1996 by picking up a $12 million Bank of Hawaii mortgage taken out by Attractions Hawaii, owned by a member of the Pietsch family, in 1989 to make improvements.
Attractions Hawaii owns both Waimea Valley Adventure Park, which opened as a tourist attraction in 1974, and Sea Life Park, where visitors first started coming in 1964.
The state's slump in tourism in the 1990s hurt attendance at both attractions. At Waimea Valley Park, attendance is at about 250,000 a year from a peak of about 600,000.
The park says it includes 6,000 types of plants -- 400 of which are threatened or endangered species from Hawaii or elsewhere -- growing between the falls and the parking lot.
Ray Greene, general manager, said most of the 148 employees live in the area and support the proposed city purchase of the park. He described the park as one of the North Shore's largest employers.
