The pineapple variety triangle garden by Poamoho Camp, at top, was bulldozed because Del Monte is moving off the leased land.
Del Monte bulldozes
pineapple memoriesThe vanished garden near
Wahiawa could be a precursor
for Poamoho residents
A landmark pineapple garden seen by generations of motorists going to and from the North Shore was bulldozed last week as Del Monte shifts its pineapple production on Oahu.
The Del Monte Variety Garden -- a collection of pineapples from all over the world -- sat on a triangle of land just outside of Wahiawa at the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Kaukonahua Road since the 1950s.
"The whole place is gone," said Peter White, a tourist from Vermont who has made it a point to visit the garden each time he visits Oahu. "It just vanished."
Bulldozers smash chicken coops and pick up and haul the debris away from the camp.
The site, listed in several guide books, was a frequent stop for tour buses and visitors.
Now, all that's left of the garden -- dozens of exotic pineapples mixed in with red dirt -- sits in nearby heap.
"I don't get it," said White, who visited the patch with his family earlier this week and then saw that it had been bulldozed. "There is zero left of that beautiful garden. ... We'd always go there."
Wahiawa residents and former Del Monte workers also say they're sad to see the garden gone.
"It's been there ... since I was a kid working in the pineapple fields," said Ben Acohido, chair of the Wahiawa Neighborhood Board.
"It's been, over the years, a stopping point for people."
Stacie Sasagawa, a human resources manager with Del Monte, said a smaller version of the garden will be planted at the company's offices in Kunia.
She said the pineapples that were rooted out of the Wahiawa garden and discarded were leftovers, and that some seedlings were saved.
Del Monte leases 2,220 acres, which includes the garden, from the George Galbraith Trust.
Last year, the company announced it would not renew its lease with the Galbraith estate because the variety of pineapple planted there is no longer in demand.
The garden was one of the first fixtures to go. Another -- Poamoho Camp -- could be next.
Del Monte has given the 300 residents there until June 9 to vacate the land where the Del Monte employees, retirees and their family members have lived for decades.
At Poamoho Camp yesterday afternoon, the loss of the garden was seen as one more sign of bigger changes to come.
"There's plenty change," said Francisco Agustine. The 35-year veteran of Del Monte was rebuilding chicken coops yesterday that he had to take out of an area of the camp the company was already clearing.
"They no like chicken coops," he said. "They no like gardens."
Teodoro Agduyeng, who worked 62 years for Del Monte, said the pineapple patch had been there for as long as he could remember.
"It was a place to see what a pineapple is," he said.
"I was surprised they did that," said Clementina Tubon, who has lived at Poamoho for 49 years. "I feel sad because I grew up here. I don't know what's next."
