Fence to safeguard Coco Palms Resort

The owners of the historic Coco Palms Resort are having a six-foot fence erected around the property to prevent trespassing by homeless people and unauthorized visitors.

Wailua Associates obtained a permit for the fence from the Kaua’i County Planning Department a few weeks ago as a way to reduce liability, according to owner representative Thomas King.

The hotel is the location of the wedding scene in Elvis Presley’s movie “Blue Hawai’i,” which was filmed in part on Kaua’i in 1961. The Coco Palms Resort operated for about 40 years before it was closed as a result of damage from Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992.

The hotel has been on the sale block for a few years, and a proposal to sell the hotel fell through last December. There are no prospective buyers for the property at this time, King said.

Akamai Fencing, a Kaua’i company, is expected to begin erecting the fence next week and will have the work completed in two to three weeks, King said.

The project is being undertaken following recent reports from hotel security officers of homeless people entering vacant hotel rooms, King said.

The fencework will be done under the supervision of Nancy McMahon, a Kaua’i-based archeologist with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Historic Preservation Division.

She is expected to monitor work that might occur around historic Hawaiian sites on or around the hotel property.

A small number of employees have been retained to maintain the grounds, King said. “(They) will be retained depending on how many I need to call in at certain times,” King said.

Longtime Kaua’i singer and entertainer Larry Rivera, and his family, will continue to perform “Blue Hawai’i weddings alongside the lagoons at the hotel, King said. An existing wedding chapel also will be maintained.

There are no plans for any improvements at the hotel at this time, King said.