The fire-gutted Volcano Golf Course clubhouse is being demolished after three years of disuse.
Kamehameha Schools, owner of the course, announced Saturday that it will begin the work of tearing down the clubhouse through the rest of the month, with work expected to be completed in mid-November.
If the demolition remains on schedule, the building should be removed almost exactly three years after it was severely damaged by a fire.
The fire caused an estimated $315,000 in damage. The building was never repaired, and has not been used since then.
Golf course General Manager Dawn Crozier said the site of the building will just be replaced with grass for the time being until Kamehameha Schools decides what to do with it.
“We’re assessing the options,” said Kamehameha Schools spokeswoman Crystal Kua. “There are a lot of factors to decide what the property will look like.”
Crozier said demolition work started Monday, with crews beginning to fence off the site. She added the demolition should not interfere with play on the course, which will remain open throughout the process.
However, trucks and equipment required for the job might lead to traffic delays.
Currently, services such as the golf shop and golfer check-ins are still available at a tent near the course parking lot, Crozier said. She added that golf carts are extremely limited, so the course will be walking-only for the time being.
The course — the first and oldest golf course on the island — reopened earlier this year after nearly two years of closure caused in part by the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, the course’s previous lessees abruptly abandoned their lease of the land four years before its expiration, forcing the closure of the course.
According to legal documents, one of the lessees claimed he was unable to operate under pandemic restrictions, but also threatened to destroy the golf course rather than return it to Kamehameha Schools. In letters to Kamehameha Schools, the lessee repeatedly professed that he was the rightful owner of the course.
Kamehameha Schools and the previous lessees eventually reached an undisclosed settlement, and Kamehameha Schools regained full control of the site in August 2020.
The course reopened in March after being placed under the management of golf management company Indigo Sports.
“It’s been pretty busy,” Crozier said. “There have been a lot of locals coming in regularly.”
Demolition work at the clubhouse will continue on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.