The Maunakea Visitor Information Station will reopen Thursday after more than a year of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The VIS, located 9,200 feet up Maunakea, closed in March of last year in response to the global spread of the coronavirus, but will finally resume operations with limited services in order to adhere to local, state and federal pandemic guidelines.
Safety barriers have been installed at the VIS to maintain social distancing, and the facility’s daily hours have been reduced to 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. until further notice. Prior to the pandemic, the VIS was open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“Our goal is to educate the visitors on the cultural importance of the mountain,” said newly appointed VIS manager Rodrigo Romo in a statement. “We need to make sure visitors know how to behave on the mountain and approach it with the respect it deserves.”
A $1.53 million renovation project at the VIS was completed in 2019, and added a higher-capacity parking lot and improved entry and exit routes to the facility. More recently, 400 native saplings were planted near the VIS in May as part of a University of Hawaii effort to reintroduce threatened native flora.