Posted on: Thursday, June 12, 2003

Makaha plans for canoe halau

By Kawehi Haug
Advertiser Staff Writer

The city is preparing to build a canoe halau at Makaha Beach Park, the third in a series of seven canoe storage buildings planned for O'ahu beach parks.

The $705,000 A-frame structure will have racks to store 18 six-person canoes plus space for additional boats and maintenance equipment.

"We've needed this for a long time," said Fran Tuinei-Keli'ikoa, president of Makaha Canoe Club, which will use the halau. "The community is very happy that we're getting our own halau."

The halau will be built mauka of Farrington Highway, next to the new park restrooms. That is not a problem, Tuinei-Keli'ikoa said, because it will be used for long-term storage of canoes only during the off-season.

"During paddling season, we keep the canoes on the sand," she said. "It's OK that the canoes will be stored across the street from the beach; it's still closer and safer than the substation."

The 100-member club now stores its canoes at the Wai'anae fire substation, where they are exposed to the elements, Tuinei-Keli'ikoa said. She said they also have had also problems with vandalism and having the halau will provide a secured shelter for their canoes.

The reason the halau was situated on the mauka side of the highway was to avoid blocking ocean views and to get them up from seasonal shifting sands that can scour the surface of the boats, project documents say.

Construction could begin in late December and could be completed in five months, said architect Daniel Chun of the architectural firm Kauahikaua and Chun, which designed the Makaha halau.

The halau will be 40 feet by 65 feet and will have a more traditional Hawaiian design than the existing Maunalua Bay and Kailua halau, Chun said.

He said the halau will be an A-frame structure designed to follow "pre-Captain Cook form." Three of the four walls will be metal grillwork to provide adequate ventilation.

The city has released a draft environmental assessment report available to the public at the Wai'anae Public Library. Members of the public are invited to submit comments; the deadline is July 8.

Four other halau being planned are for Ke'ehi Lagoon, Nanakuli, Poka'i Bay and Waimanalo, city spokeswoman Carol Costa said.