WAILUA — Perhaps Coco Palms is only a ghost of what it was before Hurricane ‘Iniki took its life in 1992. But some residents still yearn to see the deteriorating 400-room hotel which used to be “one of the premiere
WAILUA — Perhaps Coco Palms is only a ghost of what it was before Hurricane ‘Iniki took its life in 1992. But some residents still yearn to see the deteriorating 400-room hotel which used to be “one of the premiere resorts in the world,” said Hawai‘i Movie Tours guide Makana Carvalho.
So far, about 150 kama‘aina have received backstage passes into the resort since the company first started offering free guided tours for residents in October.
Though the property now serves as a backdrop for tours and memories reminisced, it still remains a dismal sight for others.
“It’s very disappointing and very sad to see that wonderful property be in the deplorable condition it’s in today and has been for many years,” said Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau.
Formally the “birthplace of Hawaiian royalty,” he said, the “time has long passed for the community, county and state government to work together to resolve the issue.”
Hooser supports the organization Friends of Coco Palms which is attempting to receive funding in order to preserve “the unique natural features and culture of the property, while making it available for public use,” according to their Web site.
The committee began in 2007 shortly after the owners, Coco Palms Ventures, ceased to pursue individual condo unit sales mid-year.
They sold very good at first, but sales quickly began to trickle off, Carvalho said.
Since the county Planning Commission granted a three-year extension to the owners — beginning April 30 and ending Jan. 25, 2013 — the sellers have been “awaiting a recovery of the economy,” Carvalho said.
Until then, the property remains a “disaster waiting to happen,” Hooser said, as “evidenced” by the Dec. 3 fire to the former resort’s retail annex.
The extension set “numerous conditions,” including demolishing current structures and completing grading work, said Deputy Planning Director Imai Aiu.
Some conditions have already been met, such as cleaning and maintaining the Coconut Grove, maintaining the drainage ditch and nominating the Fishponds to the National Historic Society, all of which will “allow for demolition, foundation and construction, as well as infrastructure improvements, to happen on-schedule,” he said.
“If the conditions are not met by the deadline in 2013, the Planning Commission would have the authority to revoke the permits,” Aiu said.
At that time, the state will “pick up the property and use it as a cultural area,” Carvalho told kama‘aina during a tour of the property last week. The information brought on a round of applause by the approximately 15 people who chose to spend their Saturday morning browsing through a portion of Kaua‘i’s history.
Carvalho, whose mother worked as a housekeeper for 22 years at Coco Palms, said he would not mind seeing the property’s resurrection, “as long as the Hawaiian culture is preserved.”
Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. said he would like to see Coco Palms restored “with as much resemblance to the original resort as possible.”
“It was truly a Kaua‘i landmark and so many who knew Coco Palms during its heyday sorely miss the grace and Hawaiian hospitality which were its trademarks,” he said. “Just recently I spoke to the owner to convey an urgency for action, and I am also looking at other options for the property should it appear that the conditions of the extension may not be met.”
• Coco Zickos, business and environmental writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com.
