Fewer parking spots for Ala Moana fireworks show

Ala Moana Center’s massive redevelopment project that eliminated 2,000 parking stalls is putting a damper on this year’s Fourth of July celebration.

The center will host a fireworks show at 8:30 p.m. Friday at Ala Moana Beach Park as usual, but there will be no viewing party on the parking deck and finding a stall will be tough.

The Sears parking deck was closed for construction a year ago, causing an ongoing bottleneck on the Ewa end of the mall.

"This is the most ridiculous, the most exasperating, the most frustrating (situation)," said Honolulu resident Caprice Colding, 42, who goes to the mall three to six times a month for her husband’s physical therapy. "I’ve been driving for about 20 minutes just to find a parking space. This is like unbelievable. I hate it. I never can find parking and if I do, by the time I find parking I’m so exhausted I want to go home."

The closure of two levels of parking adjacent to the former Sears department store is part of a $572 million expansion that will make way for Hawaii’s first Bloomingdale’s. The two-year project is expected to be completed in November 2015.

The mall is urging customers to watch the fireworks show from the park this year as "there will not be a designated spectator zone at Ala Moana Center."

An estimated 2,000 stalls were blocked off at the state’s largest shopping center when construction began, reducing the number of parking spaces from 10,000 to 8,000.

"Although the Ewa side of the center is currently under construction, there is still plenty of parking available for mall shoppers on property and at the Ala Moana Pacific Center," Scott Creel, Ala Moana’s senior marketing manager, said in a statement. "We encourage the public to come to the mall early to shop and dine and then head over to the beach park for the show."

Ala Moana said its parking will be open to nonshoppers after 7 p.m. when stores close. It also is offering free entertainment at Centerstage.

The center has hosted an outdoor concert every Fourth of July for years. Hundreds of residents and visitors attended the event and would watch the evening fireworks show from the deck.

Unlike previous years, patrons will now have to fight the crowds and find parking at Ala Moana Beach Park or surrounding areas such as the Hawai‘i Convention Center, which is offering public parking for $10 per entry from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday.

"It’s horrendous. I’m not even going to make an attempt (to come on the Fourth of July)," said Kapahulu resident Brenda Ali, 40, who found parking Wednesday after circling the garage for 20 minutes with daughter Makamae, 9. "They cannot even accommodate shoppers, so how are they going to accommodate half the island to come and participate? I’m going to watch it unfold on TV. Let everybody else go sweat it out."

Despite the parking woes, Aiea resident Marie Ashley Pascua, 24, is planning to come to the mall on Friday to watch the show with visiting family from the mainland.

"It’s going to be crazy, super crazy," she said. "Even if we come (as early) as we want to, parking is still going to be crazy."

Mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. demolished the Sears store to expand the center to Piikoi Street. General Growth also is adding another five levels of parking on the mauka side of the center.

The Ewa side of the Mauka Ewa parking structure is now open on levels two through four, and levels five through nine will open later this summer, Ala Moana said on its website. Kona Iki Street is currently closed in both directions, as is the Piikoi Street level entrance. In addition, traffic through Kona Street heading Ewa is being diverted intermittently throughout the day. The Piikoi ramp remains open.

Another construction project, a 23-story residential condominium atop the Nordstrom parking garage, is expected to be completed late this year.

The mall, which attracts 42 million shoppers annually and generates sales in excess of $1,400 per square foot, has completed at least one major project: the reconfiguration of Centerstage and upgrades to surrounding street-level shops.

Ala Moana has sponsored the free fireworks show, launched from Ala Moana Beach Park, for 23 consecutive years. The show on Friday will be accompanied by a live soundtrack on FM 92.3 KSSK.