Inadequate parking lot lighting is prompting the city to stop holding night events at Hanauma Bay Education Center.

Friends of Hanauma Bay meetings and a lecture series about the ocean will be moved to daytime hours or another location, a city spokesman said Friday.

The parking lot lights, which rely on solar and wind to charge their batteries, were installed in 2002 at a total cost of $75,000.

"Some of the lights still work, but there are many which are corroded by ocean salt and wind and have stopped working," said city spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke. He added that the original manufacturer is no longer making replacement parts.

Consequently, the lights can’t be easily fixed.

Rather than rushing to find a replacement, the Caldwell administration wants to look for a better alternative, Broder Van Dyke said.

"Mayor Caldwell is not rushing replacement because he has directed the departments to come up with a long-lasting" green-minded solution, which could include renewable energy sources, he said.

Mark Yonamine, deputy director of the city’s Department of Design and Construction, said the lights installed 12 years ago were intended to provide minimum lighting during the early morning or evening in the winter months.

"It was never intended to be used for nighttime illumination," Yonamine said.

Broder Van Dyke said city officials decide to halt night meetings after the two groups expressed worries about the dark parking lot.

Friends of Hanauma Bay held their meetings at night at the center, and the Thursday night lecture series has attracted audiences of up to 100 people.

"We’ve developed this education audience," said Elizabeth Kumabe, a leader for the Hanauma Bay Education Program.

The program, part of the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program, spotlights new research, including work by graduate students, in ocean sciences.

The night lectures might be moved to Sunday afternoons at the center, and the city is working with the Friends to move their meetings to the Koko Head District Park recreation center, Broder Van Dyke said.