Hanauma center nearly ready
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
The city's $10.6 million Hanauma Bay education center will be opened to the public in mid-August, city Managing Director Ben Lee said.
The date has not been set because the city is awaiting completion of the educational exhibits and final editing of the seven-minute video that will be required viewing for first-time visitors to the nature preserve.
Aside from that, the facility is completed, Lee said. The city wants to open the center with all the components in place.
Located on the upper level of the park, the nature center came under criticism from people who felt it would be too large a development at the popular snorkeling site.
City planners lowered the building's height by five feet, to 14 feet, and covered it with earth and landscaping to make it as unobtrusive as possible.
"The overall building blends in," said Roy Gritter, a member of the Friends of Hanauma Bay and a regular docent at the bay. "You really can't tell it's a building."
The 10,000-square-foot facility will be the point of entry for people heading to the beach to snorkel.
Visitors will be required to watch a video on water safety and reef preservation; the city believes such an education center is necessary to help protect the bay.
The center's display boards discuss water conditions, island formation, geology and other facts about the ecosystem, Gritter said.
The city is having staff members create the video after determining that an outside company would charge too much, Lee said. Bids came in at $500,000 to $750,000 for the equipment and video design; city staff will do it for $250,000, he said.
The center also includes a snack bar, gift shop, admission booth, docent room and storage areas.
Members of the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board and Friends of Hanauma Bay who have visited the center gave it high marks.
Neighborhood board members were impressed with the quality of workmanship, said board member Mary Houghton.
"It really blends in nicely," Houghton said. "It's very well thought out."
The center was supposed to have been completed last year, but problems encountered during construction put it behind schedule.
Gritter, who spends at least five hours a week at the bay talking to visitors about the nature preserve and water conditions, said he was eager to see the video, which he hoped would educate the public about the fragile ecosystem.
"The education center will go a long way to preserve the bay," Gritter said.
