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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Wednesday, May 30, 2001

OHA debates Waimea Falls Park purchase

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

John Waihe'e IV's drive to have the Office of Hawaiian Affairs buy the 1,875-acre Waimea Falls Park property for $6 million hit a bump yesterday when fellow OHA trustee Oswald Stender said he doubted OHA could make money where three owners have failed.

After an hour of debate, in which Waihe'e complained about "cynics and pessimists," OHA's land and policy-and-planning committees passed out a watered-down motion expressing OHA's continued interest in the park.

The City Council is scheduled to vote today on whether to acquire the property by condemnation and change its emphasis from adventure rides to cultural and educational activities.

The park's visitor count has plummeted by 30 percent since 1991.

Christian Wolffer, who bought the park four years ago, put it up for sale last August for $25 million. Last month, Wolffer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to block the foreclosure of the Waimea site as well as his Sea Life Park property.

Kaiulani McDurmin, the real estate agent representing the owner, said the asking price now is $19 million but told Stender OHA might not be wasting its time with a $6 million offer.

Stender said he wouldn't oppose OHA helping the city preserve cultural sites in the property, but doubted OHA could justify an outright purchase, especially in light of more pressing needs of Hawaiians for health, housing and education.

Trustee Rowena Akana said OHA's duties include preservation of such great tracts of land, not highest and best use, and that values would increase.

Members of a citizen "Stewards of Waimea" group urged OHA involvement, saying Hawaiians could learn about their culture in such a sacred valley filled with mana. Under private owners, group member Ralph Bard said, the valley and its botanical collections have been neglected to the point of "cultural vandalism."

Ronald Williams, chief operating officer of Atlantis Adventures, which runs the park today, said there were "lots of things you could do with the park," including "put a school there," but didn't elaborate.

Ray Greene, general manager of the park, said it was breaking even with 300,000 paying visitors a year, but only by putting off maintenance and not investing in the kind of new attractions such private parks must have. He said it would cost OHA $500,000 to $600,000 a year just to keep up the park even if the gates were closed to the public.

Waihe'e wants OHA to commit to buying the park for not more than $6 million, subject to a later "due diligence" study on the economics and a legal opinion on the idea. "I know this is a big thing, maybe scary for some trustees, and there's a place for cynics and people who are pessimists, and that's good, but if they run the whole show ... " trustees may look back years from now and say "we had a chance to buy Waimea Valley and we blew it."

But Stender said "generally you don't jump into a real estate deal unless you are convinced" it makes sense. Buying subject to a later due-diligence study could expose OHA to a lawsuit if it tried to back out, he said.

To get the matter to the full board, Stender joined Waihe'e, Akana and Linda Dela Cruz in favor of the weaker "we'll-think-about-it" motion, while trustee Colette Machado voted no, saying too many questions about the cost of even studying such a deal had not been answered.

City Councilwoman Rene Mansho (North Shore, Central O'ahu) initiated the city's plan to buy the property. The park employs about 150 North Shore residents, and Mansho says she'd hate to lose those jobs.