Hana Pier to be removed after residents’ protests

Based on community objections to a proposed Hana Pier rehabilitation project, the state Department of Transportation is now planning to dismantle the pier.

“Due to the safety concerns with the aging facility, the improvements to the pier are a necessity. Leaving the pier in its current condition is not an option,” Transportation Director Ford Fuchigami said in a news release Wednesday. “However, we have listened to the residents and heard their opposition to commercial use of the facility and will now remove the pier.”

Excluding commercial use does not align with the department’s Harbors Division’s mission, which is to manage commercial harbors for loading, offloading and handling of cargo, passengers and vessels, the release said.

The estimated cost of the removal is $3.5 million. An additional $16.5 million assigned to the project will be returned to the Harbors Division for use in other improvement projects.

An environmental impact statement will be conducted on the pier’s removal. The public may submit additional comments to be included in the environmental impact statement, which is expected to take a year to complete.

To gauge sentiment on the matter, a survey was sent to each household in the Hana ZIP code. Multiple community meetings also were held regarding the project.

Built in the early 1920s as a commercial facility under the jurisdiction of the Transportation Department, the pier was transferred to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Boating Division in the early 2000s. It was returned to the Transportation Department in 2010. Subsequent investigations determined it was unsafe, and the pier was condemned and closed.