He'eia park building 'ravaged'
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KANE'OHE — Burglars took every piece of office equipment and half of the stock in a gift shop at He'eia State Park last week, leaving its operator scrambling for replacements as it tries to maintain the Windward facility's educational programs and projects.
The Friends of He'eia State Park is looking for help cleaning up and donations. Call 247-3156.
The Friends of He'eia State Park lost all its office equipment Thursday when burglars broke into a building and took computers, a scanner/fax/copier, a television, VCR, telephone, answering machine and all the money in the cash register, said Carole McLean, the Friends' executive director.
To help
Half of a new supply of sarongs was taken, as were some magnets, McLean said.
"The place was ravaged," she said. Everything was "just turned upside down."
McLean estimated the losses at about $6,000, an amount she said the Friends couldn't afford, as it operates its programs and maintains the park on a shoestring budget.
A police report has been filed.
The theft cuts into the Friends' ability to carry out their mission to educate schoolchildren, restore the stream and provide support for projects taking place there. Even a simple thing like writing a grant for programs has been bogged down because there are no computers and the group has no way to replace them, she said.
The thieves set off an alarm around midnight, but when someone from the Friends' group went to the building, all he found was missing louvers and an open side door, McLean said. He secured the building and left.
But the thieves may have been hiding in the park, she said, because they later disabled the alarm and smashed through the building.
"Someone took a crowbar and the whole wall was missing," she said, adding that the damage and theft made it impossible to do business. Nevertheless, McLean said she wouldn't be turning away the public, school visits or a research program the park has with college students.
The park is on an isolated point overlooking Kane'ohe Bay. It has had frequent problems with people who start fires or wash in the restrooms, leaving a mess, she said.
The park also has had its share of vandalism and break-ins. Last October someone broke into the building, threw candy and juice machines down a hill, stole 200 metal folding chairs and left money and snacks scattered on the ground.
Five days before this latest burglary, someone broke into the building but took nothing, McLean said.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
