Diamond Head plan awaits fate

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Bureau

The biggest complaint about hiking to the summit of Diamond Head is that there are so many other people hiking at the same time.

Sometimes during the day, there's a queue at the top of the summit, like rush hour traffic backing up on Ward Avenue.

But visualize a system of trails throughout the nearly 500 acres that make up the Diamond Head State Monument, taking hikers to other tunnels, large cannon stations, or batteries, fire control stations, and dryland and wetland eco-systems.

Imagine learning about the different endangered species of the native sedge plants, called pu'uka'a.

And imagine parking at the vacant Cannon Club, entering through the never-used Kapahulu Tunnel, rather than the Kahala Tunnel that is used now. Then walk or take a people mover to an interpretive center where information boards explain the important role Diamond Head played in protecting the country's most western front and about the geology of O'ahu and the evolution of a volcano.

That's all part of a multimillion-dollar, long-term plan to preserve and improve Diamond Head Crater and its surroundings, one of Hawai'i's most famous landmarks and visitor attractions. The plan, while complete, faces an uncertain financing future. The Legislature ultimately will determine the fate of the first phase that includes building an interpretive center, but Diamond Head's protectors see the completion of the plan as a step forward.

"Ultimately, the vision is to take out all the buildings and see no cars other than those for Civil Defense, which is on the mauka side of the crater," said Vincent Shigekuni, PBR Hawaii, a land planning consultant senior associate. "The goal is to open up Battery 407, Harlow, Hollings and Dodge (artillery bunkers). People only go to the lookout now and that's all they think Diamond Head is about."

The changes are necessary to keep pace with the growth of attendance. The crater is open 12 hours a day, seven days a week. It has become a must-do on most visitors' list. The attendance proves the point: 40,000 a year in 1980 to more than 1 million today. While not all of the visitors take the 1.6-mile roundtrip hike to the summit, which includes climbing two sets of steep staircases, more than half go all the way up.

Last year, the state began charging a $1 entry fee at the visitor information center at Diamond Head. Most visitors don't complain. Once all the plans move forward for the interpretive center, that fee would rise and for an extra fee include guided tours. Those fees go to the state park special fund.

"People are now illegally hiking along the crater," he said. "That erodes the crater rim and tramples on endangered plant species. We want to create space for people to go legally."

Much of the change, however, depends upon whether the federal government is willing to give up its hold on the crater. The National Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration both have a sizable stake in the crater floor — about two acres. The FAA will be out by year's end, moving nearer the airport. But the National Guard may not leave its facilities for five years, and even has an agreement that will allow it to stay until 2029, said Capt. Charles Anthony, National Guard spokes-man.

Alison Kay has been working on a Diamond Head plan since 1965, and she has volumes and boxes of studies and minutes from meetings over the years. Kay and others have been trying to bring Diamond Head back to its natural state, restoring the ecosystem and preserving the open-space profile.

"It's a state park and a national monument," Kay said. "But under the present circumstances, it doesn't live up to it with those buildings on the inside and the haole koa. That isn't natural.

"It should be something that represents Hawai'i and not something that allows anyone to come in."

A master plan developed in 1979 is the basis for all the proposed changes now. It was upgraded last March and is the basis for budget requests before the state Legislature. The vision, while grand, always was at the mercy of the federal government moving the FAA and the National Guard. Changes at Diamond Head can move forward now that the FAA is moving out by the end of the year and some units of the Guard have moved to Kalaeloa.

Financing for the interpretative center has been removed from one budget, although it could reappear before the session ends May 3. State officials have placed it as No. 4 on their list of statewide projects before the Legislature for financing from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and No. 3 in priority for the state parks division, said Dan Quinn, department acting state parks administrator.

"It's a priority project in DLNR's budget," Quinn said. "You never know what can happen at the Legislature. The interpretive center is such a great opportunity for a park visitor to learn more about Diamond Head."

To do everything requires money. No one knows exactly how much because it involves acquiring the Cannon Club land and building parking lots, getting the golf carts for the people mover, landscaping with native plants and building the interpretive center.

The center alone is expected to cost $5 million, Shigekuni said. The center can be built, he said, even if the National Guard doesn't move out.

"This is such an important resource to visitors and to everyone," Shigekuni said. "You want to make sure that people realize that there are some important resources and give them a better idea of what is here."

Since the 1900s, Diamond Head has been considered part of Fort Ruger, a military installation. When the military didn't need the base any longer in the early 1950s, it turned the land over to the state. Some of it was developed into homes, the rest preserved. Over the years, developers have pitched plans to build an amusement park and golf course in Diamond Head crater. But always the activists, like Kay, have stepped forward, pushing for the protection of the best-known symbol of Hawai'i.

"There are very few other places where you can go inside a volcano," Shigekuni said. "This is a nicely formed volcano."

Brian Klatt, a Pittsburgh, Pa., resident, said the hike was easy — too easy. But it was crowded.

"People tended to congregate up at the top." said Klatt. "It's not very natural around here. But I'm going to Kaua'i, and I'll see a lot of natural stuff there."

Likewise, Carole Hunt, of Ontario, Canada, said the view at the top was beautiful, but it was crowded along the way. She would have preferred to have taken a less-traveled path to see the view and to read about the history of Diamond Head before she hiked.

"People come here because it's on their to-do list," said Yara Lamadrid-Rose, Diamond Head State Monument park coordinator. "Our intent is to raise awareness of what Diamond Head is all about. People want a recreational experience and at the same time informing them so they help us protect the resources, stay on the trail, don't vandalize."