Waikiki beach restoration project may get extra $2.4M

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

Gov. Linda Lingle is considering pumping $2.4 million into a beach replenishment project that would add 30,000 cubic yards of sand to Kuhio Beach in Waikiki.

The project would also involve demolishing offshore sea walls and adding groins — walls that run perpendicular to the beach — that could stop sand from being pushed down the beach by currents. The effort would follow on a $700,000 beach renourishment project scheduled to start in April.

The eroding sands at Waikiki aren't helping tourism. The narrowing beach was a topic of discussion when Lingle visited Japan in July.

Lingle outlined efforts to revitalize Waikiki along with her agenda for the upcoming legislative session at the Waikiki Improvement Association's Annual Membership Meeting yesterday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Among the governor's other tourism-related priorities for the upcoming session:

• Seeking federal permission for a Hawai'i-only visa to spur increased visitor traffic from China and other countries.

• Making the directors of the state Department of Transportation and Department of Land and Natural Resources voting members of the Hawai'i Tourism Authority's board of directors. The HTA supports the measure.

• Providing the HTA an additional $8 million from the tourism special fund to cover a deficit in its budget.

• Merging state and county film permitting processes to make it easier for film and TV productions to get permission to operate in the state.

In addition to these tourism-specific proposals, Lingle tried to drum up support for her tax, workers' compensation and education reforms, which she said benefit all business sectors including tourism. She said she wants the visitor industry to back efforts to improve Hawai'i's overall business climate, as opposed to just supporting tourism-specific measures.

"You've got to get beyond that kind of thinking," Lingle said. "You've got to take the larger view about our state and our future and I want you all to be a part of it with us."

As for paying for the improvements to Kuhio Beach, Lingle said money could be available under new state projections showing a possible surplus of $90 million in the state's fiscal year that ends in mid-2005.

Lingle said whether to seek money for Kuhio Beach in the supplemental state budget due in December still needs to be weighed against other pressing needs such as the state hospital system.

"So it's important not to spend everything just because they're projecting it" will be available, Lingle said.

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8093.