State’s plans for
Diamond Head
Crater aired

Citizens voice concern about
some aspects of the proposals

By mary Adamski
Star-Bulletin

FOUR large buildings inside Diamond Head eventually will come down, but it was the prospect of new structures to be built in the crater that concerned people at a public meeting on the master plan for the state monument.

An interpretive center where visitors to the landmark will be briefed on its geographical, historical and cultural features is one change proposed in the master plan being prepared under a $1 million appropriation by the 1997 Legislature.

The opening of another existing tunnel for public access and the prospect of using the former Cannon Club on the outside slope for visitor parking were among other projects described at a public meeting on the preliminary master plan.

Also discussed were planned changes that aren't part of the master plan, including proposed entry fees.

Another meeting will begin at 6 p.m. today at the Kalanimoku Building first-floor conference room.

FAA will move out

The Diamond Head State Monument citizen advisory committee wants a 25,000-square-foot limit on the size of the visitor interpretive center, said Frank Brandt of PBR Hawaii, the planning and architectural firm preparing the master plan.

Three picnic areas would be developed where the multistory Federal Aviation Administration building and three National Guard warehouse-like buildings now stand, in the plan which updates the 1979 master plan. The FAA will move to Honolulu Airport and the National Guard may relocate to Barbers Point.

Several aspects of the planning are concerned with preserving the natural features and protecting them from the damaging effects of visitors. About 1 million people visit the crater each year.

The plan calls for restricting hikers to established trails and identifying and protecting sites within the crater where rare native plants can still be found. Although most of the crater is very dry, there is a sump area that would be developed into a wetland habitat for birds. Using nonpotable water from wells outside the crater, it could be used as an irrigation reservoir for planting to be done.

"My concern is the loss of the wild, the loss of the natural," said botanist Ruth Gay, who cautioned against bringing in water and planting even native plants.

"There are some remnant stands of plants. But as a plant ecologist, I don't know what used to be on the floor of the crater -- no one can say for sure."

Entrance to the crater would be from the Kapahulu tunnel from an entry point near Makapuu Road at the ewa side of Kapiolani Community College campus, Brandt said. Other tunnels and military bunkers which are now off-limits eventually would be opened to visitors.

"We went from having no money to clean up the trails to all of this," commented Mary Steiner of the Outdoor Circle. She was one of the speakers who were concerned about commercialization.

Fee structure outlined

Steiner and others balked at the prospect of including a refreshment stand at the visitor center.

Planners have not yet prepared cost estimates nor set a timeline for changes, said Brandt. It will be done by the time the final draft is ready in April, he said.

"The community felt we should not make Diamond Head an economic generator," said Brandt. "It's a lot of land, there's a lot of facilities to maintain."

Nancy Bannick, a member of the advisory committee that has met for the past year, said it hopes to have money generated by the monument be used to maintain it rather than be put in the state's general fund, as the law now requires.

There are changes in the works that aren't waiting for a master plan, according to state officials.

Parks program manager Clyde Hosokawa said a kiosk to be staffed by a park coordinator will be finished by spring, as will a toll booth.

State Parks Administrator Ralston Nagata said the question of entry fees is close to being implemented. The Board of Land and Natural Resources has yet to act on the proposal.

Fees of $1 per person and $5 per vehicle are proposed. Nagata said local residents who are frequent users of the monument could get annual passes of $10 for individuals or $30 for vehicles.