ANAHOLA — The Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative’s new Eastside facility is nearing completion, over a year after construction began in December 2020.
The Anahola Service Center, located on 4.5 acres adjacent to the Anahola solar farm fronting Kuhio Highway, will replace KIUC’s existing 1.7-acre center on Akia Road in Kapa‘a.
“The current location for our service center … is wholly inadequate for our operations today,” KIUC Communications Manager Beth Tokioka said in a recent interview. “It’s not big enough, there’s not enough storage space there. It’s also in an area that is going to be really prone to climate-change issues in the coming decades.”
KIUC initially hoped the Anahola center would be finished by the end of 2021, but subsequent circumstances, including changes to the initial building plan, inclement weather and coronavirus-related supply-chain shortages have delayed the project by several months. June 2022 is the service center’s new, tentative completion date.
Additions and alternations to the plans included water-line realignment, fire sprinklers at the recommendation of the Kaua‘i Fire Department, and a “make-ready” for a future, public, electric-vehicle-charging station.
“Putting in a charger is not part of the current project,” Tokioka explained. “But we decided to trench for it and just have all the infrastructure there at a later date, when we could just hook it up and be ready to go.”
An open house will likely be held, according to Tokioka, who noted the facility will include a community meeting room for residents’ use.
Tokioka is optimistic the project will finish at or under its $9 million budget.
“We’re hopeful that we can stay within the $9 million and maybe even save a little bit of money when all is said and done,” she said.
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Scott Yunker, reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
