Audubon to operate Waimea Falls Park
By Walter Wright and Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writers
The National Audubon Society will take over operation of Waimea Falls Park on June 26, cutting some admission prices by two-thirds and launching a campaign to turn the 1,875-acre valley toward eco-tourism and away from entertainment.
Mayor Jeremy Harris announced yesterday that the city had chosen the society over one other applicant after a lengthy evaluation of proposals from the two while they prepare to complete acquisition of the park in a condemnation trial set for July 3.
But even before the city could hold its news conference announcing the move, the other contender —Waimea Management Corp. — threatened to sue over the selection.
"We feel the city made a mistake," Waimea Management president Ray Greene said. "We believe the qualifications of the selected party are questionable. ... We have legal questions regarding the selected party's conduct relating to the bidding process."
During the submission of bids, Audubon accepted but Waimea Management declined an invitation to address North Shore community groups. Greene said at the time that such meetings would be a violation of the bidding process.
"All of these issues will be likely resolved in court," he said.
City Managing Director Ben Lee responded that the National Audubon Society was eminently qualified. The legalities of the process have been closely watched by the city's lawyers, he said.
"There are winners and there are losers, and we believe the Audubon Society came out on top," Lee said.
The choice was applauded by Scott Foster, spokesman for the community group Stewards of Waimea Valley. "The valley can now begin to fulfill its great promise and become O'ahu's premier park, a valuable resource to educate Waimea's visitors about authentic Hawaiian culture and history," Foster said.
The contract award needs the approval of the full City Council, which will consider the proposal for a 30-year lease to Audubon on April 30.
Audubon Society project manager Diana King said visitors shouldn't expect many changes immediately in the park, which has 35 gardens that are home to rare plants from around the world, and also includes Hawaiian historic sites and a bird sanctuary.
The Audubon Society says it will cater primarily to Hawai'i residents and individual tourists rather than to large tour operations.
One change which will be noticed immediately will be a sharp reduction in admission prices: Adult nonresidents will pay $8 instead of $24, for example. Schoolchildren in groups may pay as little as $2.
The society, which is operating or building 78 community-based Audubon Centers around the country, hopes to employ 30 to start and up to 60 eventually, expecting as many as 300,000 visitors a year.
The city filed suit in 2001 to acquire the park for public purposes under its right of eminent domain and deposited $5.1 million with the court. The owner, Attractions Hawaii-Christian Wolffer, withdrew the $5.1 million from the court in payment, but insisted the property was worth much more. The July 3 trial is intended to determine the value of the land.
The city took possession of, but not title to, Waimea Falls Park a year ago as part of the condemnation action and retained Waimea Management LLC, the same operator that ran the park when it was owned by Wolffer, who put the property under bankruptcy protection in April 2001.
As the city administration announced details of the Audubon contract, the City Council was discussing a resolution urging the administration to put the valley up for sale once the condemnation proceedings are completed.
The resolution, which passed unanimously, asks the administration to sell the valley to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs or a private nonprofit entity, provided that the buyer is committed to preserving the valley as a botanical, cultural, educational, historical and recreational facility open to the public.
OHA trustee John Waihe'e IV testified in favor of the resolution, saying that the trustees yesterday morning reached a verbal consensus to pursue acquisition of the property.
He said the board has come up with a cultural plan, "which basically is to run Waimea Valley as a cultural park and preservation-type space."
"We've been in contact with the Audubon Society, they've been working closely with us. Basically we wanted to maintain it as a botanical garden and a Hawaiian cultural park ... and as an educational-type vehicle, as well," Waihe'e said.
Waihe'e said later yesterday that the management contract "was a very good decision."
"Audubon has been really good to OHA, they have been meeting with us, and their proposal is definitely in line with what we want to do," he said.
Waihe'e said that he was aware of at least three other trustees in favor of purchasing the park and that he would soon propose to the entire board that it act to acquire the property.
Councilman Romy Cachola, who introduced the resolution, was pleased that it looked as if the city might be able to sell the property to OHA, which could keep Audubon as the operator. "We will be saving the acquisition costs through condemnation, as well as operation and maintenance costs of the resource. The vision is really to find a way to save taxpayers' dollars," he said.
Correction: The selection of the National Audubon Society to operate Waimea Falls Park was made by a five-member selection committee. The choice of the Audubon Society was announced by Mayor Jeremy Harris Wednesday. Because of a reporter's error, a previous version of this story contained other information.
