More than a year after serving as an emergency shelter for the homeless during the coronavirus epidemic, 31 of 32 micro-housing units once dubbed Hale Hanakahi are being moved from the parking lot at the NAS Pool in Hilo.
“Their original purpose, which was for emergency COVID shelter, was very successfully completed,” said Tim Hansen, an executive assistant to Mayor Mitch Roth. “We are now getting ready to repurpose them. Two will go to HOPE Services for shelter-related purpose and two are going to the Neighborhood Place of Puna. Fifteen of them are going to the Department of Environmental Management, eight of them to Parks and Rec, and four to Mass Transit.
“They’ll be used for offices, storage — and I think DEM is looking at using them for staff offices at some of the transfer stations.”
The tiny houses, which don’t have any plumbing or electrical wiring, are being moved because long-awaited Americans With Disabilities Act improvements to the county pool near Hilo International Airport are about to commence.
“Our deadline to get (the houses) off the parking lot is because the NAS pool refurbishing is slated to begin Aug. 1,” Hansen said. “So that parking lot, that whole area, is going to be a construction zone.”
According to Hansen, when the 32 units were set up in the parking area of the pool — which was last used in March 2020 — the area was fenced and the NAS Pool was used for water, bathrooms and office space.
“The county initially contracted with Neighborhood Place of Puna to provide 24/7 management of the site, including case management services to connect individuals to housing and health-related resources,” Hansen said. “After the end of the initial contract, HOPE Services took over the management of the site after securing temporary grant funding. … Hale Hanakahi ended operations in June 2021.”
County Parks and Recreation Director Maurice Messina told the Tribune-Herald in August 2021 his department was working with the county’s Office of Housing and Community Development to find a new location for the units.
“The county has been working to secure a location that would be appropriate for the continued use of the units for emergency shelter purposes,” said Susan K. Kunz, the county’s housing administrator. “Unfortunately, all of the potential options that have been explored by the county and its non-profit organizations have been delayed by having to comply with current code requirements. The county is working to move a few of the units to existing emergency shelter sites that will lead to an increase in shelter beds at their sites.”
The reason only 31 are going to be moved is one unit was destroyed by fire on July 16, according to Hansen.
The former Hale Hanakahi units remain fenced behind a locked gate, but that hasn’t stopped some individuals from squatting in them.
“At this point, some of the windows have been broken, all of the door jambs have been kicked in,” Hansen said.
“Last week, I posted notices on each of the units, as well as on the perimeter, that all personal belongings needed to be removed immediately.
“I also contacted HOPE Services outreach team and asked them to please go out there and make contact with the occupants. And my notice did also direct people to HOPE Services. I provided their phone number.”
Hansen said before the units are moved, they’ll be cleaned and sterilized.
“The thought of moving them into these various county departments is, No. 1, to keep them functional. Because sitting out there, they’re deteriorating pretty badly,” he said. “And OHCD could reactivate them at some point into emergency shelter use, if need be. But at 8-foot-by-10-foot, they’re very bare bones. They were appropriate for the initial emergency COVID protection kind of thing.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.