By Tino Ramirez
Advertiser North Shore Bureau
HALE‘IWA — Weed Circle, the dry and dusty southern gateway to Hale‘iwa town, will be given a makeover this spring by the North Shore Outdoor Circle and Hale‘iwa Main Street business association.
"It’s the very first thing people see when they drive into town and we’ve tried so long to get something going," said Patsy Gibson of the North Shore Outdoor Circle. "Anybody driving into the North Shore will appreciate it, and it will help lift everybody’s spirit."
The $85,000 landscaping project will replant the five-acre circle with grass and introduce Singapore plumeria, gold trees, and naupaka, dryland taro and other Hawaiian plants.
It won’t be the first effort to landscape the junction of Kamehameha Highway, Waialua Beach Road and Kaukonahua Road, but this effort should succeed, said Patsy Gibson, a former president of the North Shore Outdoor Circle.
"I joined the Outdoor Circle 12 years ago, and it had been talked about for at least eight years before that," said Gibson this week. "The Circle tried to plant it two or three different times, but with no water, there was no way to do it. But now with the state supplying the water, I think it’s going to take this time."
Landscaping Weed Circle, as well as the intersection of Kamehameha and Joe Leong Highway at the town’s north end, is meant to make Hale‘iwa more appealing to motorists, said Joe Lazar, a Main Street board member.
Leong Highway was built mauka of Hale‘iwa to relieve traffic congestion in town, but after opening in the mid-’90s, it also siphoned away business, he said.
The landscaping plans for Weed Circle were drawn up by Julie Walters and have been modified by Hawaiian Electric Co., which is a partner in the project, Gibson said. Singapore plumeria and naupaka have been planted by the state mauka of the circle, and Outdoor Circle has already planted gold trees, so the circle’s vegetation will extend the theme, she said.
To accommodate residents who use the bus stop at the circle’s south end, the plans call for a path through the middle of the circle, she said.
While the Outdoor Circle has held several fund-raisers for the project, it is still short on money and is seeking grants, as well as contributions, she said. While the plants are drought-resistant, and the state will mow the grass and trim plants, they will need monthly maintenance, she said.
"What we’re hoping is that different community groups will take possibly a month to help pick up trash and help maintain the area," Gibson said. "Life of the Land, Hale‘iwa Main Street, the Outdoor Circle, the Republican Women and other groups have already said they would and we invite more to participate."
Lazar said community help will be important: "At the beginning it has to be a community effort to make sure the plants get past the first couple of years and really take hold. It’ll take a while for that, but it’s going to look really beautiful."
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