Work has begun to fix a sign marking Hawaii Kai to motorists along Kalanianaole Highway. Work starts on Hawaii Kai sign
By Pat Gee
pgee@starbulletin.comWhen the L-shaped sign was first installed, half of it was facing the wrong way, making it difficult for motorists heading toward Hanauma Bay to see it.
A contractor is fixing it to ensure traffic coming from both directions on the highway at Hawaii Kai Drive will be able to see the sign by making it V-shaped with the faces at an angle to the highway, according to city spokeswoman Carol Costa.
Just getting the sign has not been easy. Vandals scrawled big letters in black ink on the sign a few weeks ago, and the okina punctuation mark in between the two i's in "Hawai'i Kai" was put in backward, like an apostrophe.
"I thought so much about this and fought so much," said Murray Luther, founder of Rediscover Hawaii Kai.
"They (the city) charged the taxpayer for a Cadillac car, and we got a Model T Ford," said Luther. "What we've got now is not nearly what they said when they drew up original plans and the price to put it in."
He was involved with the community group that put up the first sign 24 years ago, including a lawn, trees and sprinkler system. "It didn't cost the city anything," Luther said. After it was removed for the highway expansion several years ago, the Rediscover group worked for years to obtain a replacement.
He said the city wanted to tie in the design of the new sign with Hanauma Bay and two signs planned in Aina Haina. The Hawaii Kai sign is to have a nautical theme with a natural rock base, a wave on the bottom edge and a sail between the two sign faces.
Luther has been asking all schools and people in the area to send comments for a time capsule about what the neighborhood is like now and what they'd like to see there 50 years from now. The capsule will be encased in a watertight 2-foot box and installed during the sign's dedication Aug. 24, he said.
According to Costa, the three signs in Hawaii Kai and Aina Haina were part of a $190,000 package, and it is hard to say how much of it was used for the Hawaii Kai sign.
At a neighborhood board meeting last month, Don Goo of the sign's designer, Wimberly Allison Tong and Goo architects and planners, apologized for the error in how the sign was placed, Costa said. He "took responsibility and promised to pay for all the corrections," she said.
Contractor John Cheung, president of CC Engineering and Construction, said the sign should be completed by August. He has to regrade the area around the sign, build a rock wall for the additional foundation and landscape the area, he said.
Costa said the Aina Haina signs along Kalanianaole are near completion, and one is already installed on East Hind Drive. The second is planned for West Hind Drive, but landowner documents are under review, she said.