KAILUA-KONA — All that remains of the Keauhou Beach Hotel is towering piles of recycled concrete.
With the hotel now out of sight, Kamehameha Schools is beginning a new phase of construction.
As of Thursday, the concrete was being hauled by trucks from the site. The hauls will result in intermittent traffic delays on Alii Drive through April 30. Delays will be brief and during working hours. Flaggers will assist with traffic control so the trucks can get on and off the property.
“The vast majority (of the concrete) is headed for another use. We are pretty adamant that we do things the right way so all the material will not end up in the landfill,” said Crystal Kua, communications specialist for Kamehameha Schools.
The concrete processed onsite will be recycled as general fill material, pavement aggregate, and possibly material for drainage improvements.
The new phase follows a two-pronged demolition process. The first phase, soft demolition, ran from May to September 2017. After soft demolition concluded, hard demolition commenced in November to tear down the hotel’s exterior walls.
In pursuit of limiting environmental impact and “doing things the right way,” no explosives or wrecking balls were used in the dismantling process. Instead, a high-reach excavator and other heavy machinery took the building apart, top down, piece by piece.
Although the property may now appear barren, it is still very much a construction site with safety risks. Snorkelers and swimmers should stay clear of the site, Kamehameha Schools said.
The Keauhou Beach Hotel was built in 1969 and was open for more than four decades before being shuttered in October 2012 after operating at a financial loss for several years. Bishop Holdings Corp., a subsidiary of Kamehameha Schools, purchased the property for $26.75 million in 2004, eight years before its closing.
The hotel will be replaced by an educational center focused on science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics, and traditional Hawaiian customs.
“I think the goal is to bring the aina back to a level where our people, our haumana can thrive in a place where it used to be the site of great accomplishments by the great alii, you know, from people like Kamehameha III,” Kua said.