Transformative outcome: Community-built comfort station coming to Hā‘ena State Park

When a community comes together to take care of its land, its people, its culture — its home — greatness, innovation, stewardship and success are sure to follow.

Hā‘ena on Kaua‘i’s scenic North Shore is the newest model of a Hawai‘i community where residents and organizations joined forces to get an important capital improvement project designed, planned and paid for instead of waiting for somebody else to do it for them.

The success found by the town of 550 people is also shifting how some state agencies view as the role of community partners in managing special areas.

After years of planning, permitting and saving money, nonprofit steward of Hā‘ena State Park Hui Makaʻāinana o Makana is preparing to start construction of a much-needed new comfort station at the state park.

It’s a first-of-its-kind project unique for a couple of reasons.

First, a nonprofit community group led the design and planning process for improvements in a state park. Second, it’s also paying for the entire project with non-government funding.

Hui Makaʻāinana o Makana and its nonprofit partner The Hanalei Initiative have operated the parking and shuttle system since the park reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020.

Operating revenues have been set aside since for the new comfort station’s construction. It will be located where park visitors arrive in the parking lot of the state park.

A main benefit of the new comfort station is that it will reduce dependence on the only existing bathroom in the park now found near Kē‘ē Beach and the Kalalau Trailhead.

Many people have commented through the years about the parking lot’s lack of restrooms. It’s at least a 5-minute walk to the comfort station near the beach, and it’s not unusual to catch someone taking a bathroom break off the trail before they get there.

The new station should reduce the number of people who head into the trees to relieve themselves, in turn protecting the natural and cultural resources of Hā‘ena.

Parking spots will be reduced during construction, but accommodations will be made with a modified parking plan and increased shuttle capacity.

“We hope both our visitors and residents will plan ahead and consider using the shuttle instead of driving down to the end of the road and trying to find a parking spot,” Guy said.

Hā‘ena State Park is an environmentally and culturally sensitive area. The new comfort station will not impact any cultural sites.

Hui Makaʻāinana o Makana Assistant Direcyor Billy Kinney prepared a Ka Pa‘akai Analysis that evaluated the potential cultural impacts of the project.

“While the [Department of Land and Natural Resources] State Historic Preservation Division concurred with a ʻno historic properties affected’ determination, our hui remains dedicated to the protection of wahi kūpuna [ancestral sites] in Hāʻena,” said Kinney, a linneal descendant of Hā‘ena and Hanalei. “There will be both archaeological and cultural monitoring during the excavation of the existing parking lot.”

He added inadvertent discoveries are highly unlikely because the project site has been historically — and unfortunately — disturbed numerous times since the 1970s.

Transformation within the state Land Department and Division of State Parks is also happening because of this unprecedented project. The agencies are now looking for more community partners to better care for special areas throughout the islands.

“The hui has proven that they are responsible and committed stewards of everything we value in Hā‘ena State Park,” said Division of State Parks Assistant Administrator Alan Carpenter, adding it’s under the leadership of Hui Makaʻāinana o Makana that the implementation of a visionary master plan for the park is underway.

Their joint efforts greatly reduced the number of overall visitors to the Hā‘ena park, bringing them down to a sustainable level, and made it and adjacent Nāpali Coast State Wilderness Park more accessible and enjoyable for the residents of Hawai‘i.

Hui Makaʻāinana o Makana Executive Director Pua Chin, who also is a lineal descendant of the Hā‘ena area, is humbled by the support the Division of State Parks and community have shown for its work.

The hui’s ʻOhana Council, which consists of lineal families of the area, and its founding board members set the organization’s vision and mission almost 30 years ago.

Dedicated to perpetuating and teaching the skills, knowledge and practices of their kūpuna, their ancestors, the nonprofit works to accomplish this mission through interpretation, restoration, care and protection of natural and cultural resources in Hāʻena.

Hui Makaʻāinana o Makana’s goal is to protect the legacy of the land and its people through education and good stewardship.

“That vision, in addition to protecting, caring for and restoring the natural and cultural resources of Hāʻena State Park, also outlines the creation of this regenerative tourism model to curb human impacts and generate revenue that will directly contribute to the stewardship of the park and support local employment and educational opportunities,” said Chin.

The Hanalei Initiative, which operates the reservation and shuttle systems at the state park, is equally excited to see the comfort station project moving forward after so many years of planning.

Initiative president Joel Guy said the project is proof of the kind of power behind a community-led, government-supported appraoch to managing resources.

“The collaboration between the hui, The Hanalei Initiative and [Division of State Parks] demonstrates how local expertise and commitment can lead to transformative outcomes,” he said.