The rebuild of Kauaʻi County’s Kāpule Building located at the Līʻhuʻe Civic Center remains in its early stages following a fire that caused extensive damage to the Līhuʻe government facility, county officials told Kauaʻi Now.
The Mayor’s Office is leading and managing the rebuilding project, while the county’s Information Technology Division is overseeing the restoration of technology systems, county communications officer Alden Alayvilla said.
The fire broke out shortly before 8:50 p.m. on Sept. 9, just two days after Hurricane Lowell struck Kauaʻi, doing massive damage around the island. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Thus far, crews have been “clearing fire debris and removing damaged building materials,” Alayvilla said.
Officials said a preliminary structural and engineering assessment is complete, but a final engineering assessment cannot begin until the cleanup work is finished.
While the main structural components of the building appear to have sustained minimal damage, the fire caused significant damage to the building’s light framing, mechanical systems and electrical systems.
“Most of the building’s contents were destroyed, including critical information technology infrastructure supporting county operations across Kauaʻi,” Alayvilla said,
The Kāpule Building houses several county operations, including the Līhuʻe Division of Motor Vehicles, Real Property Assessment and collections, the Planning Department and the Public Works Wastewater Management Division.
The county has moved affected services to alternate locations where possible.
Motor vehicle services have been relocated to the Kapaʻa satellite DMV while work continues at the Kāpule Building.
Meanwhile, county IT workers are rebuilding servers and restoring systems needed to support government operations islandwide. Officials said most county telephone lines have also been restored.
The county is restoring technology incrementally as it brings systems back online.
County officials did not provide a projected reopening date for the Kāpule Building, saying the project is expected to be a long-term rebuild.
“Our focus right now is restoring services to the community as quickly and safely as we can,” county officials said.
The county plans to provide additional updates as the rebuilding effort reaches key milestones.
