Kahaluu education center gets green light

Kamehameha Schools can go ahead with tearing down the old Keauhou Beach Hotel, a prelude to an extensive educational center planned for the site.

Leeward Planning Commission members — and a packed room — seemed satisfied Thursday with a KS plan to create managed public access into the center of the Kahaluu Ma Kai complex. A plan for a shoreline trail on the south end of the 22.7-acre site also helped address concerns about public access to the coastline.

KS is cleared to commence demolition of the seven-story building under the special management area permit the commission approved unanimously. The school’s trust must still work with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to determine how to manage access to the five heiau along the shoreline and in the water.

Kaeo Duarte, KS vice president of community engagement and resources, said the in-water heiau present a unique situation, and it’s not clear how the mandate for buffers of such historic sites meshes with other laws about public access.

“Where the state decides lawful shoreline access is, we will abide by the laws,” Duarte said.

The lava ocean shelf at the north end of the site will also remain open to the public with the possible exception of the Kapuanoni Heiau, which KS plans on restoring. However, signage will point visitors to more favorable access to the south. Areas may be restricted during demolition and construction for safety reasons.

The Kahaluu site will offer traditional Hawaiian-based learning to students of many ages and races through partnerships with a variety of public and charter schools and other educational institutions.

The area historically has been a center of aina-based learning and some of the heiau recently have been restored. At least two dozen people testifying on their own behalf and for educational and cultural groups stressed the importance of perpetuating that place-based learning and assuring that public access is balanced with the preservation of the historical sites.

“We believe we need to look at what it means to protect our knowledge and how we express that kupuna knowledge,” said Bo Kahui, executive director of Lai Opua 2020. “How do we practice that knowledge in a setting that is not a classroom, that is more natural, meaningful and enlightened?”

Kahui and others said the heiau are learning centers that deserve the same consideration as schools.

“Our high schools, our public schools don’t have unrestricted access,” Kahui said. “Are our cultural centers as important as our schools?”

Some kupuna believe the area is so kapu it should be walled off, Duarte said. Others embrace more openness.

“The whole process has been trying to find that balance,” said Duarte. “We want this to be a place that is welcoming to all.”

Under the blueprint worked out with Planning Commission staff over the past month, vehicle access off of Alii Drive will lead to a 10-stall parking lot and trail to the shoreline. A public walkway through the center of the complex will start at the heritage center, where visitors would receive information on the property and protocols before proceeding to two interpretive areas for viewing the heiau.

“For us, this was a compromise for how you could come and learn about the heiau in a managed way without being part of the (educational) program,” Duarte said.

Demolition of the 300-room hotel and what remains of the old Kona Lagoon Hotel is expected to cost $11.5 million. A portion of the hotel is built out over a lagoon, and “soft demolition” crews will start by taking the building apart from the inside. The resort closed in 2012.

The estimated cost to build out the educational center is at least $34 million, and the start date isn’t yet known. A total of at least seven educational buildings will include the heritage center, administration, flexible-use educational and sleeping facilities and a canoe hale.

The project is a fully funded KS priority, Duarte said.