City to add benches at Kuhio Beach
By Kalani Wilhelm
Advertiser Staff Writer
City officials have decided to install additional benches and lockers at Kuhio Beach in a move that is part nod to longtime beach boys and part solution to a lack of seating and storage space, said City Councilman Charles Djou.
Advertiser library photo
The decision comes less than a month after the city began enforcing a rule that prevented dozens of old-timers from storing their chairs or any belongings at the beach overnight as they had for years.
"We want to make it a win-win situation for everyone and make sure the beach is welcoming to the locals," City Councilman Charles Djou said.
After their gear was confiscated on July 29, they complained that the city was taking away their way of life.
Djou said he has been working with city Department of Enterprise Services director Barry Fukunaga to accommodate tourists as well as the old-timers who spend the days talking story or watching the surf at the popular Waikiki beach.
"The locals are an important part of Waikiki," Djou said. "They help convey the aloha spirit to our visitors."
He said the improvements will be made "as soon as possible."
The additional benches and lockers will be next to the Waikiki police substation.
It was the Department of Enterprise Services, which oversees the concession stands on the beach, that ordered the old-timers' belongings removed last month.
Djou said the lockers provided by the city in the bathrooms are usually occupied by the beach boys, leaving no space for tourists and other beachgoers to store their belongings.
The benches should also accommodate surfers, who have complained that there is no room for them to wax their boards. Djou said many of the surfers would overturn garbage cans for use as waxing stands, dumping out the rubbish in the process.
"We want to make it a win-win situation for everyone and make sure the beach is welcoming to the locals," Djou said. "Tourists will enjoy coming to Waikiki more if the locals are around."
