LIHUE — Restoration of the nearly 50-year-old Coco Palms Resort is proving to be a challenge for the California developers hoping to convert the hotel for timeshare use. Not only will conversion from hotel to timeshare require extensive construction work,
LIHUE — Restoration of the nearly 50-year-old Coco Palms Resort is proving to
be a challenge for the California developers hoping to convert the hotel for
timeshare use.
Not only will conversion from hotel to timeshare require
extensive construction work, but Native Hawaiians have expressed concerns about
sensitive archaeological sites and the state transportation department
continues to explore plans to build a bypass road through the property.
The
Planning Commission last Thursday extended a public hearing on development
permits sought by Lincoln Consulting Group until the Commission receives
various archaeological reports about the site.
Testimony will continue at
the Thursday, Jan. 27, meeting beginning at about 1:30 p.m. in the Lihue Civic
Center.
Speaking at last week’s hearing, Lincoln Consulting’s Jim Reed said
he hopes to prove to Kauaians that rebuilding Coco Palms is more important than
routing a new Kapa’a bypass road through the property.
Two of the proposed
routes would effectively kill resort development plans.
He said his
company’s plans for the resort will attempt to recognize the legendary
ambiance. “Our desire is to create a destination resort of beauty once
again.”
Lincoln Consulting plans to tear down most of the existing hotel
and build several new buildings to convert the property to a 232-unit timeshare
resort.
In the process, construction workers are expected to unearth
ancient Native Hawaiian bones and burial sites, said architect Avery Youn, who
is the authorized agent for Lincoln Consulting.
There is one known burial
site on the property, Youn said.
That site is actually a re-interment site
for about 80 burials discovered on the property during a 1973 reconfiguration
of hotel buildings, said Cheryl Lovell-Obatake, chair of the Kaua’i and Ni’ihau
Island Burial Council.
Lovell-Obatake also expressed concern regarding
three potential routes for the Kapa’a bypass road. A road through the coconut
grove, or skirting the grove, would impact that historically significant area,
she said.
Another proposal would widen Kuhio Highway between the property
and Wailua Beach to six lanes (it’s three now), and push the highway very close
to the known existing re-interment site, she said.
In her testimony at the
public hearing and later in a telephone interview with The Garden Island, she
expressed other concerns.
“To me, the land is very delicate, because of its
flood conditions.” she said. “I’m kind of concerned about sewage as
well.”
Restoring the fishponds, auwai (ancient irrigation ditches) and
making use of the coconut grove for a coconut celebration or other festivities
should be explored, she said.
Kapaa resident Nani Rogers questioned the
rush to get permits for the project saying that the new owner hasn’t yet gained
title to the property.
“It seems like there’s a rush. Is there a rush on
this?” she asked.
Rogers urged that reconstruction be done in a “pono”
(right, correct) manner, and hopes a kupuna advisory committee she is helping
to form will be consulted regarding land-use issues and the Coco Palms.
“I
believe this process is walking on shaky cultural grounds,” she continued,
asking what will happen to portions of the property when one state lease
expires in 2006.
“He (Youn) says it’s state lands. I say it’s Hawaiian
lands.”
She pleaded with the owners to try to preserve as much of the
historic property as possible.
Entertainer Larry Rivera opened last
Thursday’s hearing with a song about the Coco Palms. Rivera said the grounds of
the hotel used to be the home of Kaua’i Native Hawaiian royalty.
Rivera,
who will celebrate 50 years with the Coco Palms next year (he still plays music
for and arranges several weddings a month on the property), said when the hotel
was open it hosted an average of 500 weddings a year.
Rivera favors the new
resort plans, as he has seen firsthand how valuable the Coco Palms has been to
the island. Further, he opposes an expanded road in front of the Coco Palms, a
road through the coconut grove, or a road around but near the hotel.
Such
plans would “forever destroy a historic area,” and whoever is proposing such
plans doesn’t have the heart of Kaua’i in mind, he said.
Youn told
commissioners that he understands the Coco Palms site is a sacred, special
place, and a known burial site for Native Hawaiians.
The hotel, if still
open, would be celebrating its 47th anniversary on Tuesday, Jan. 25, Youn
said.
The Coco Palms site is made up of six different parcels, three leased
from the state, and three others that the company is in the process of
buying.
Currently, Youn said, there are no funds available to build a
bypass road and it may be another 20 years before money is approved.
Steve
Kyono, state DOT Highways Division Kaua’i district engineer, said the Kapa’a
bypass road project has been around since the 1960s, and won’t go away
soon.
Beverly Apana Muraoka, representing the Christine Apana Family Trust,
which owns land immediately north of the project site, expressed concerns about
how construction fill work will impact her family’s property, especially in
times of heavy rains and flooding.
Youn assured her mitigation efforts will
be undertaken to protect her family’s property.
Liberta Lilia Hussey Albao
expressed support for the reconstruction plans.
She worked for former hotel
owner and manager Grace Guslander for 21 years, at the Hanalei Plantation and
Coco Palms, as wedding coordinator, in accounting, and in various other
departments and capacities.
Buddy Peters, whose kayak company stands to
benefit from a re-opened Coco Palms, spoke in favor of the project.
He
added that the construction work will mean jobs for many of his friends who
live in the Wailua-Kapaa area.
Reginald Manaku, an Anahola Native Hawaiian
and timeshare company principal broker, said having the Coco Palms as a
timeshare property will mean job security for hotel workers, as occupancy rates
remain high regardless of ups and downs in the economy.
Timeshare is here
to stay, he said. It’s an international business with 4,500 timeshare resorts
around the world, he said.
“This would be a great economic shot in the
arm,” he said. He agreed, also, that having kupuna involvement is a good idea,
and may help developers to heighten cultural awareness.
The $60 million
reconstruction project is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs, and
around 200 permanent jobs once the property re-opens, Youn said.
Besides
the archaeological work already in progress regarding the site, an
archaeological monitoring plan will be installed into the property’s long-range
operating scheme, Youn said.
A Wailua or Coco Palms museum is planned for
the resort, something many Native Hawaiians testified in favor of.
Robert
Iopa, an architect with the Honolulu firm Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo, said
his firm’s founder, Robert Wimberly, did conceptual drawings for the original
Coco Palms.
And Jerry Allison was an integral part of the design team
which designed what became Coco Palms, Iopa said.
Plans for the renovated
resort include a new entrance further mauka up Kuamu’o Road, and a meandering,
weaving entry road going through the coconut grove to a new porte-cochere.