Police arrested a man yesterday in connection with a fire that destroyed the Kamalani Pavilion at Lydgate Park Thursday night, according to Lt. Roy Asher of the Kaua‘i Police Department. Witness accounts led to the arrest of the unidentified suspect,
Police arrested a man yesterday in connection with a fire that destroyed the Kamalani Pavilion at Lydgate Park Thursday night, according to Lt. Roy Asher of the Kaua‘i Police Department.
Witness accounts led to the arrest of the unidentified suspect, Asher said, and police had not determined if the fire started due to negligence or malice. No charges had been filed yesterday.
A dozen firefighters worked over a 21/2 hour period Thursday night to extinguish the blaze, said Mary Daubert, spokeswoman for the county.
Little of the southern white pine structure also known as the Art Pavilion survived.
Thomas Noyes, general coordinator of The Friends of Kamalani and Lydgate Park, salvaged seven koa relief carvings from the rubble yesterday.
A ceramic wall with fish and aquatic creatures had been slightly damaged, but had withstood the fire, he said. The health of a concrete foundation buried beneath charred debris could not be determined.
Parks and public works staff will clear the ruins, Daubert wrote in an e-mail. The timeline and cost of the clean-up had not been determined.
Volunteers built the 20-by-40-foot pavilion in 2004.
Part of a larger vision for the park, the structure featured seating areas, picnic tables, an amphitheater and fire pit, as well as embellishments created by local artists and students.
Volunteers have already expressed an interest in rebuilding, Noyes said.
“They’re ready,” he said. “They want to go back in and get to work. We just need to figure out how to finance the initiative.”
The county’s property insurance policy covered the pavilion, Daubert wrote in an e-mail, and an insurance adjuster will determine the replacement value.
The original construction cost about $100,000, said Noyes, but that number did not include materials.
The project relied on leftover resources from the construction of a nearby pedestrian bridge.
He had not yet determined the cost of a new structure, he said.
Contributions to rebuild the pavilion can be sent to The Friends of Kamalani and Lydgate Park, c/o The YWCA of Kaua‘i, 3094 Elua St., Lihu‘e, HI 96766.
For more information, contact Thomas A. Noyes at 808-639-1018 or thomasnoyes@hawaiiantel.net.
• Charlotte Woolard, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or cwoolard@kauaipubco.com.
