It has been nearly five years since Hawaii County announced plans to demolish the dilapidated “terminal” building at Old Kona Airport State Recreation Area, yet the fenced off structure remains an eyesore at the entrance to the park.
The county set aside $3.5 million in 2019 for demolition of the old structure and construction of a new facility.
“As far as our timeline, this is a priority. We want to get this done as soon as possible. There’s nothing holding us up from doing this,” Parks and Recreation Director Maurice Messina told West Hawaii Today in 2019.
But there was something holding up the process. Parks and Recreation spokesman Thatcher Moats said the county needed to get approval from the State Historic Preservation Division, which to date, they have not received.
With the deteriorating structure posing a danger, the county is seeking a workaround with SHPD to allow the project to move forward.
“SHPD is receptive to the idea of an emergency exemption to pursue that project without an approved archaeological inventory survey,” said Moats. “Our next step is to submit the documentation requesting the emergency exemption.”
Moats said he could not provide any timelines on when the project could begin.
“SHPD’s consideration of our requests and any conditions placed upon subsequent approval would factor into our ability to complete the design and initiate construction,” he said, noting the design phase is nearly 90% complete.
The project includes demolishing the old terminal, and adding parking lot enhancements, a new bathroom and a concession structure.
“The concession structure is the kind that could be used by community groups and sports teams to sell concessions during events to, for example, raise funds for their teams or clubs,” said Moats.
Also held up in this process are both bathrooms on the beach.
The bathroom on the north end of the beach caught fire last March, shortly after being refurbished by community members using private funds.
“We will be submitting separate exemption requests for both the bathrooms and the terminal projects. For the bathrooms, the exemption request would include the facility that burned as well as the other one, which is closed because of structural issues,” said Moats.
He said SHPD has always been a part of the planning and permitting process at the park.
“We’re really glad they’re receptive to the possibility of emergency exemptions as part of this process,” he said.
But one Kona resident is frustrated at the time it is taking to get the bathrooms repaired.
Jeff Fear was instrumental in rehabilitating the pavilions and bathrooms at the park with funds from his and other businesses and community-based resources.
With a volunteer crew, they replaced the roofing and painting of the facilities in February 2023. He said requests for funds to pay for the facilities were ignored by the County Council, so companies who bore the expenses did so for the betterment of the community.
One month later, the bathrooms burned down. Fear and his associates rallied to get the last working bathroom on the beach rebuilt.
“Home Depot is donating all the building materials. The community was going to do it for free,” said Fear, frustrated by the red tape he has encountered trying to rebuild the bathroom at no cost to the county. “In the meantime, the county is paying for the portable toilets down there. It’s our beach, it’s our park. Kona is supposed to be the jewel of the island.”
Laaloa Beach
parking lot
Another project that is awaiting approval from SHPD is the parking lot at Laaloa Beach Park.
The parking lot at the south end of Laaloa Beach Park, also known as Magic Sands, has been closed since 2017. Since then, park patrons have been asked to park either along Alii Drive or at Kipapa Park, located across the street from Laaloa
Beach Park.
That area needed to be modified to preserve Haukalua Heiau per an agreement with lineal descendants and cultural practitioners, as well as the Hawaii Island Burial Council and the State Historic Preservation Division and part of a decades old preservation plan for the park.
The lot, which is smaller than the original parking area is paved and ready to open, but needs the final sign-off from SHPD before that can happen.
The county still needs to submit a finalized archaeological monitoring report and final preservation plan.
“Once SHPD approves the plan, the parking lot can be opened,” said Moats.