Big Island’s Iconic Ali‘i Drive changed forever after loss of 80-foot tree

The landscape of historic Ali‘i Drive in Kailua-Kona on Hawai‘i Island is forever changed as the more than 100-year-old Moreton Bay Fig tree with branches that arched over the roadway was cut down, going from its majestic 80 feet high to a 20-foot trunk.

The tree, with its striking white bark and green canopy that spanned 120 feet, was a landmark on the scenic roadway along the sea wall. The tree was in front of the shops at Kona Banyan Court in historic Kailua Village.

The demise of the tree began on Oct. 24, when one of its overarching branches broke in the middle of the night. Kaliko Chun, a member of the family that owns the property on which the tree grows, heard about the branch breaking while she was in Honolulu and flew back to Kona the next day.

“The tree is more like a member of the family,” Chun said. “The ‘aina there is a kuleana of our family. From my mother and my aunts and uncles, it was passed on to me.”

The Moreton Bay fig tree — a large evergreen banyan tree of the mulberry and fig family Moraceae that is native to eastern Australia — was one of four trees brought to Kona by Queen Kapiolani in 1882, according to a 32-page report in 2017 by Ho‘okuleana LLC.

The report called “Along Aliʻi Drive” said two of the trees were reportedly cuttings from a banyan tree at ‘Iolani Palace, where they had been presented by royals from India. One was planted at Hulihe‘e Palace and in 1906, the Maguire family transplanted one that now stands near the entrance to Kailua Pier by the King Kamehameha Hotel.

The Moreton Bay fig was a gift from the Queen to Alexander Burgess, who planted it in front of his beach house, which is now the present site of the Banyan Court Mall.

The other Moreton Bay fig was planted at Hōlualoa Bay, also along Ali‘i Drive, to mark the site where canoes were blessed and launched. But it no longer is standing.

Chun described the towering tree on her family’s property as an icon of Kailua Village, saying: “It was always there. You could count on it.”

Zack Weiner, arborist with Tropical Trees, has been trimming the ficus for more than 10 years and estimated it was at least 140 years old.

“Trees have a timeline,” Weiner said. “Most old trees have some level of decay. The tree was slowly giving signs of stress because of how big it was. There was rot on the inside of the tree, which is why the branch failed at the base.”

Weiner said there are ways to check for tree rot that involve performing ultrasounds on the tree, however, it’s not something he has experience with. Chun was shocked to find out there was tree rot.

Weiner said cutting down the tree was a difficult decision.

“It comes down to public safety and the number of people and businesses that are under the tree every day,” he said. “We can’t let it go till it hurts someone.”

It took three cranes to cut and remove limbs from the tree. The job was finished on Oct. 26.

“When you watch it being cut, you realize how large and heavy the limbs are,” Chun said. “The crane operators handled it very gingerly.”

With the fall of the ficus tree, along with a fallen banyan tree in Hilo that killed two women in July, Hawai‘i County Mayor Kimo Alameda said it has triggered a response to assess the hazards of 47 large banyan trees in the county. That includes the two other historic trees on Ali‘i Drive, a banyan at the King Kamehameha Beach Hotel and at Hulihe‘e Palace.

“We’re reaching out to consultants to find out their health, what should be trimmed, what should be taken down, how best to maintain it and the cost associated with this,” Alameda said. “Any tree that is big or doesn’t look like it was being maintained, we reached out to the property owners.”

Alameda said the Moreton Bay fig was standing for so long in a community, “it’s family or becomes like furniture in the house.”

Now that it’s gone, the mayor said, “We’ll have to get used to not seeing it.”

From what Alameda has learned, the banyan by the King Kamehameha Beach Hotel is not posing a risk at this time.

Despite the Moreton Bay fig being reduced to a stump, Weiner said the tree may try to regrow.

There also have been an idea floating around the community of transforming the remaining part of the tree into a ki‘i (statue of deity or ancestor). Chun said she didn’t think that was something that would happen, but that she would talk to her family about it.

But everyone can agree the loss of the tree is sad.

Ross Wilson, executive director of the Kailua Village Business Improvement District, said: “The historic trees in the village provide that visual image of who we are.”

Weiner added that it “changes the vibe” in the town.