WAILUKU - The bright strobe lights that have been drawing attention to the KMVI radio broadcast tower for several days are related to Maui Memorial Medical Center's plans to build a helipad, The Maui News reported today.

But once the new light installation is completed, the strobe lights won't be used at night.

Earl Tolley, chief engineer for the station, said Tuesday that he apologizes for the inconvenience of the lights. There have been problems with the controllers, and he is awaiting parts to fix it.

Once the new lighting system is corrected, the nighttime lights will continue to be red, "but there will be more of them" to come into compliance with the latest Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

The medium-intensity - but still very bright - white strobe lights will be used only during daylight. Tolley says he was contacted by a helipad consultant because pilots found they could not see the tower or its guy wires in daylight.

Eventually there will be three white lights, one at the top and two at mid-level, about 240 to 245 feet above the ground. The tower is located in a parking lot of The Maui News.

The strobe lights are aimed upward for the pilots' benefit, but because of Maui's mountains, some residents also are above the lights looking down.

"I've been getting calls," said Tolley, from Maui Uplands and Wailuku Heights. Motorists have said the white lights were startlingly bright from both Kihei and Maalaea also.

Medical helicopters use War Memorial Complex now, and their patients are transferred by ambulance to the hospital.

Plans call for building a 20-foot-high, 60-by-60-foot helipad within 100 feet of the hospital's emergency room entrance. Hospital spokeswoman Carol Clark said Central Construction has been selected as the contractor to build the helipad. Although $750,000 is available for the project, cost estimates have grown to more than $1 million, she said.

Maui Memorial officials will need to seek additional funding from the state Legislature next year. If more money is appropriated and released, the contract with Central Construction can be signed in July, and construction of the helipad is expected to take about eight months, Clark said.

* Harry Eagar can be reached at heagar@mauinews.com.