No burial sites found yet at Coco Palms site

Associated Press

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Archaeologists searching the grounds of the shuttered Coco Palms Resort property for ancient Hawaiian burial sites, trails and other information to include in a cultural impact statement have so far come up empty.

"We haven't found any burials," said David Shideler, supervising archaeologist with O'ahu-based Cultural Surveys Hawai'i Inc. "It's really kind of disappointing."

The resort, which closed after Hurricane Iniki in 1992, is in an area along and around the Wailua River that was once a gathering place for ancient Hawaiians.

The area was the ancestral home of Kaua'i's royalty in the 13th century, and was also the home of Kaua'i's last reigning queen, Queen Debora Kapule, a wife of King Kaumuali'i, in the mid-1800s.

Those factors indicated that the area should have produced many more artifacts than have been found, Shideler said.

"The area has seen a great deal of transformation over its history, including rice development by the Japanese, a coconut plantation and, of course, the Coco Palms hotel," Shideler said.

Next week, the cultural survey experts will meet with local residents and kumu, and the cultural assessment should be completed within two months, Shideler said.

The effort is one indication that the long-awaited renovation and eventual reopening of the Coco Palms property could move forward.

The Kaua'i Planning Commission approved zoning permits for redevelopment of the area four years ago, but it was subject to the preservation of archaeological features and human burials on the grounds.

Various parties were interested in purchasing the property, but financing and other troubles squashed deals, and a cultural impact statement wasn't done.

In January, real-estate developer Richard Weiser said he had an agreement with San Francisco-based resort owner Wailua Associates to purchase the nearly 60-acre property for an undisclosed price, but the sale has not closed.

The hotel, which was the location for the 1961 Elvis Presley film "Blue Hawaii" and Rita Hayworth's 1953 film "Miss Sadie Thompson," was damaged by Hurricane Iniki in 1992 and closed several months later.