HAWAI'I KAI — Rusting rebar, tilting rock walls and questionable structural integrity at the popular Halona Blow Hole lookout are putting residents and visitors at "undue risk," the city has determined, prompting plans for a $1.1 million renovation.

Built more than 50 years ago, the lookout near Sandy Beach is buffeted by wind and salt air. They have deteriorated the rebar, forcing the closure of the lower viewing area in 1997, according to a city environmental assessment.

Cracks have appeared on most of the walls, including the rock wall holding up the Halona Blow Hole sign, and chunks of the lower viewing area have fallen away from the platform.

The project's main goal is to rebuild the closed lower portion of the lookout, where the best viewing is, said Eugene Lee, director of the city Department of Planning and Permitting. In addition, the renovations will address safety concerns by deterring people from climbing over or sitting on the lava rock walls, Lee said.

There have been several drownings at the Blow Hole, the most recent in 2002, when an 18-year-old California man died after being sucked in.

Near the Blow Hole stands an obelisk-shaped sign erected in 1931 as a warning that a drowning had occurred and that the area is dangerous to surfers, swimmers and fishermen.

Still, every year some visitors risk their safety and try to approach the area where the sea rushes in and sprays back out through a fissure in the rock.

Plans call for rebuilding the lower and upper viewing sites, demolishing many of the rock walls and using glass-fiber-reinforced polymer rebar, rather than steel, to gird the rock walls. A 30-inch-high stainless steel railing will be placed atop a new foot-high rock-and-concrete wall, opening up the view of the blowhole and the Kaiwi Channel now obstructed by a 3-foot-high rock wall.

The project will keep the viewing angles the same and make it easier to see the Blow Hole with the new railing, Lee said. Interpretive signs could be added as money became available.

"The new railing and wall system will be safer so kids can't climb through," Lee said.

Even in its dilapidated state, hundreds of tourists daily flock to the lookout along the stretch of undeveloped coastline.

John Clark, a former deputy chief of the Honolulu Fire Department, author and veteran waterman, said the revamped lookout should deter most visitors who hop the wall trying to get to From Here to Eternity Beach, a cove on the west side of the lookout. Those who try to get a closer look at the Blow Hole usually come from either the cove or Sandy Beach, Clark said.

"There is a great need for these improvements," Clark said. "Most of the visitors who come there will get the message from the new improvements that they're not supposed to hop over the wall and go down to the ledge."

But they won't deter everyone. "Some people will disregard all the signs and go into the impact zone," he said. "If someone wants to get to the Blow Hole, they will."

Utah resident Greg Hansen enjoyed the view with his family on Wednesday. While the viewing conditions didn't affect his experience, he said the sight of the broken-down wall was disturbing.

"Anything that gets you closer to the view is great for a tourist," Hansen said. "Signs would be great to explain what you're looking at. But we did read all about it before we came here, so I knew what made the fissure spout."

The renovations could begin in 2008, Lee said, and will include Americans With Disabilities Act access from the parking lot to the mauka observation area. Construction should take about nine months, he said.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.